Bitter Taste Receptors

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to bitter-taste receptors and their role in bitter taste transduction. The invention also relates to assays for screening molecules that modulate, e.g. suppress or block, bitter taste transduction, or enhance bitter taste response.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional application of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/528,630, filed Mar. 22, 2005; which is a National Stage Application of international Application Number PCT/EP2003/010691, filed Sep. 25, 2003; which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/413,298, filed Sep. 25, 2002, all of which are incorporated herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Investigators have recently turned their attention to understanding the biological mechanisms of taste, and in particular bitter taste. For a review of the literature see, for example, Science 291, 1557-1560. (2001); Cell 100, 607-610 (2000); Neuron 25, 507-510 (2000); Nature 413, 219-225. (2001); and J Biol. Chem. 277, 1-4 (2001).

Bitter taste is aversive, and as such provides humans with a mechanism of protection against poisonous substances, which are generally bitter-tasting compounds. More subtly, bitter-tastants also affect the palatability of food, beverages, thereby influencing human nutritional habits as is more fully discussed by Drewnowski in “The Science and Complexity of Bitter Taste”, Nutr. Rev. 59, 163-169 (2001). They also affect the palatability of other ingestibles such as orally administered pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. Understanding the mechanism of bitter taste transduction has implications for the food and pharmaceutical industries. If the bitter taste transduction pathway can be manipulated, it may be possible to suppress or eliminate bitter taste to render foods more palatable and increase patient compliance in oral pharmaceutics.

Taste transduction involves the interaction of molecules, i.e., tastants with taste receptor-expressing cells which reside in the taste buds located in the papillae of the tongue. Taste buds relay information to the brain on the nutrient content of food and the presence of poisons. Recent advances in biochemical and physiological studies have enabled researchers to conclude that bitter taste transduction is mediated by so-called G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCRs are 7 transmembrane domain cell surface proteins that amplify signals generated at a cell surface when the receptor interacts with a ligand (a tastant) whereupon they activate heterotrimeric G-proteins. The G-proteins are protein complexes that are composed of alpha and beta-gamma subunits. They are usually referred to by their alpha subunits and classified generally into 4 groups: G_(alpha s, i, q and 12). The G_(alpha q) type couple with GPCRs to activate phospholipase C which leads to the increase in cellular Ca²⁺. There are many G_(q)-type G-proteins that are promiscuous and can couple to GPCRs, including taste receptors, and these so-called “promiscuous” G-proteins are well known to the man skilled in the art. These G-proteins dissociate into alpha and beta-gamma subunits upon activation, resulting in a complex cascade of cellular events that results in the cell producing cell messengers, such as calcium ions, that enable the cells to send a signal to the brain indicating a bitter response.

There is also anatomical evidence that GPCRs mediate bitter taste transduction: clusters of these receptors are found in mammalian taste cells containing gustducin. Gustducin is a G-protein subunit that is implicated in the perception of bitter taste in mammals, see for example Chandrashekar, J. et al., Cell 100, 703-711 (2000); Matsunami H. et al., Nature 404, 601-604 (2000); or Adler E. et al., Cell 100, 693-702 (2000). cDNAs encoding such GPCRs have been identified, isolated, and used as templates to compare with DNA libraries using in-silico data-mining techniques to identify other related receptors. In this manner it has been possible to identify a family of related receptors, the so-called T2R family of receptors, that have been putatively assigned as bitter receptors.

To-date, however, it is not clear as to whether all the bitter taste receptors have been discovered. Further, of those that have been discovered, many have not been matched, or paired, with ligands, and applicant is aware of very few published studies wherein rigorous matching has been undertaken. Chandrashekar, J. et al. in Cell 100, 703-711 (2000), has expressed a human T2R receptor, the so-called hT2R4 receptor, in heterologous systems and looked at the in vitro response of this receptor. They found that it provided a response to the bitter compounds denatonium and 6-n-propyl-2-thiouracil. However, the concentrations of bitter tastants needed to activate the hT2R4 receptor were two orders of magnitude higher than the thresholds reported in human taste studies, and so it is not clear that the protein encoded by the hT2R4 gene is a functional bitter receptor. The authors of the Chandrashekar et al. article also looked at a number of mouse T2R receptors with a range of stock bitter-tasting chemicals of disparate chemical structure. However, no study has looked at receptor responses to bitter ligands that are problematic in the food and pharmaceutical industries, and means of suppressing the bitter response to these ligands.

The universe of compounds that provoke a bitter response in humans is structurally very diverse. Therefore, if research into bitter receptors is to be of any practical significance to the food and pharmaceutical industries, all bitter receptors will need to be identified, and once identified, there has to be a rigorous understanding of how specific receptors are matched to particular structural classes of bitter compounds. Unfortunately, although much basic research has been conducted in the area of bitter taste receptors, there are potentially many more bitter receptors to be discovered, and little is still known as to whether the known members of the human T2R family of bitter receptors actually respond to bitter tastants, and if so what, if any, specificity they show to ligand substructures.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to bitter-taste receptors and their role in bitter taste transduction. The invention also relates to assays for screening molecules that modulate, e.g. suppress or block bitter taste transduction, or enhance bitter taste response.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. In case of conflict, the present document, including definitions, will control. Preferred methods and materials are described below, although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention. All publications, patent applications, patents and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. The materials, methods, and examples disclosed herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

Other features and advantages of the invention, e.g., screening for compounds that inhibit bitter taste, will be apparent from the following description, from the drawings and from the claims.

Surprisingly, applicant has now found a new group of putative bitter taste receptors, and in respect of certain known bitter receptors, applicant has found that they respond with specificity towards classes of bitter compounds that are important in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

In a first aspect of the invention there is provided a new group of putative bitter receptors. The genetics of bitter tasting has been extensively studied in mice and rats. Therefore, applicant compared the nucleotide sequences encoding polypeptides previously proposed to be bitter receptors with publicly available human nucleic acid sequences in the NCBI database using the BLAST® search methodology (Parameters: Expect=0.01, Filter=default). Surprisingly, the search identified 24 DNA sequences (from human chromosomes 5, 7, and 12) that, because of their homology to a mouse nucleic acid sequence that encodes a polypeptide (T2R5) previously designated as a bitter receptor, we designated as bitter receptor-encoding. Bitter taste receptors were originally assigned identifiers starting with the three characters “T2R” (identifying the receptor family) followed by a number (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.) that identifies a particular receptor, e.g., T2R5. More recently a different system has been used in which the identifiers start with five characters “TAS2R” (identifying the receptor family) followed, as previously, by a number (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.) that identifies a particular receptor, e.g., TAS2R5. A lower case letter in front of the identifier indicates the species of the receptor (e.g., “h” for human, “r” for rat, and “m” for mouse). Thus, for example, mTAS2R5 is a mouse bitter receptor and hTAS2R2 is a human bitter receptor. For consistency the new TAS2R identifier system is used throughout the rest of this application.

Of the 24 coding sequences identified by the search, 12 are believed to be novel; the polypeptides encoded by these novel sequences are designated hTAS2R38-41, and 43-50. The DNA sequences encoding the polypeptides are assigned SEQ ID NOs: 2 (hTAS2R38), 4 (hTAS2R39), 6 (hTAS2R40), 8 (hTAS2R41), 10 (hTAS2R43), 12 (hTAS2R44), 14(hTAS2R45), 16 (hTAS2R46), 18 (hTAS2R47), 20 (hTAS2R48), 22 (hTAS2R49), and 24 (hTAS2R50), respectively, and the amino acid sequences of the polypeptides are assigned SEQ ID NOs: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 23, respectively.

The 12 additional (possibly novel) sequences identified by the search encode polypeptides, which are designated hTAS2R1, 4, 5, 7-10, 13, 14, 16, 3, 42 and 60. The DNA sequences encoding the polypeptides are assigned SEQ ID NOs: 26 (hTAS2R1), 28 (hTAS2R4), 30 (hTAS2R5), 32 (hTAS2R7), 34 (hTAS2R8), 36 (hTAS2R9), 38 (hTAS2R10), 40 (hTAS2R13), 42 (hTAS2R14), 44 (hTAS2R16), 46 (hTAS2R3), 48 (hTAS2R42), and 50 (hTAS2R60), respectively, and the amino acid sequences of the polypeptides are assigned SEQ ID NOs: 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47 and 49, respectively.

Thus, one aspect of the present invention is a polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of

-   (a) polynucleotides encoding at least the mature form of the     polypeptide having the deduced amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ     ID NOs 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 23; -   (b) polynucleotides having the coding sequence, as shown in SEQ ID     NOs: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24 encoding at     least the mature form of the polypeptide; -   (c) polynucleotides encoding a fragment or derivative of a     polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide of any one of (a) to (b),     wherein in said derivative one or more amino acid residues are     conservatively substituted compared to said polypeptide, and said     fragment or derivative has bitter substance binding activity; -   (d) polynucleotides which are at least 50% identical to a     polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (c) and which code     for a polypeptide having bitter substance binding activity; and -   (e) polynucleotides the complementary strand of which hybridizes,     preferably under stringent conditions to a polynucleotide as defined     in any one of (a) to (d) and which code for a polypeptide having     bitter substance binding activity;     or the complementary strand of such a polynucleotide.

A polypeptide that exhibits bitter substance binding activity is a polypeptide that has at least 20% (e.g., at least: 20%; 30%; 40%; 50%; 60%; 70%; 80%; 90%; 95%; 98%; 99%; 99.5%; or 100% or even more) of the ability of the respective full-length TAS2R to bind to a given bitter substance. Binding assays and bitter substances are described herein below.

In a preferred embodiment the polynucleotide of the present invention encodes a polypeptide that still exhibits essentially the same activity as the respective mature bitter taste receptor, i.e. has “bitter taste receptor activity”. Preferably the polypeptide has at least 20% (e.g., at least: 20%; 30%; 40%; 50%; 60%; 70%; 80%; 90%; 95%; 98%; 99%; 99.5%; or 100% or even more) of the ability of the respective full-length TAS2R to release intracellular calcium in a heterologous cell expression system like, for example, HEK293/15-cells, which stably express the alpha-subunit of promiscuous G-proteins, e.g. the mouse G₁₅ subunit, in response to bitter tastants, which is dependent on the expression of polypeptides encoded by the polynucleotides of the present invention. The amount of intracellular calcium release can be monitored by, for example, the in vitro FLIPR assay described herein below.

The TAS2R nucleic acid molecules of the invention can be DNA, cDNA, genomic DNA, synthetic DNA, or, RNA, and can be double-stranded or single-stranded, the sense and/or an antisense strand. Segments of these molecules are also considered within the scope of the invention, and can be produced by, for example, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or generated by treatment with one or more restriction endonucleases. A ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecule can be produced by in vitro transcription.

The polynucleotide molecules of the invention can contain naturally occurring sequences, or sequences that differ from those that occur naturally, but, due to the degeneracy of the genetic code, encode the same polypeptide (for example, the polypeptides with SEQ ID NOs: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 23). In addition, these nucleic acid molecules are not limited to coding sequences, e.g., they can include some or all of the non-coding sequences that lie upstream or downstream from a coding sequence.

The polynucleotide molecules of the invention can be synthesized in vitro (for example, by phosphoramidite-based synthesis) or obtained from a cell, such as the cell of a bacteria mammal. The nucleic acids can be those of a human but also derived from a non-human primate, mouse, rat, guinea pig, cow, sheep, horse, pig, rabbit, dog, or cat as long as they fulfill the criteria set out above. Combinations or modifications of the nucleotides within these types of nucleic acids are also encompassed.

In addition, the isolated nucleic acid molecules of the invention encompass segments that are not found as such in the natural state. Thus, the invention encompasses recombinant nucleic acid molecules incorporated into a vector (for example, a plasmid or viral vector) or into the genome of a heterologous cell (or the genome of a homologous cell, at a position other than the natural chromosomal location). Recombinant nucleic acid molecules and uses therefore are discussed further below.

A polynucleotide belonging to a family of any of the TAS2R disclosed herein or a protein can be identified based on its similarity to the relevant TAS2R gene or protein, respectively. For example, the identification can be based on sequence identity. In certain preferred embodiments the invention features isolated nucleic acid molecules which are at least 50% (or 55%, 65%, 75%, 85°/a, 95%, or 98%) identical to: (a) a nucleic acid molecule that encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NOs:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, or 23; (b) the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NOs: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, or 24; and (c) a nucleic acid molecule which includes a segment of at least 30 (e.g., at least 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 250, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 850, 900, 950, 1000, or 1010) nucleotides of SEQ ID NOs: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, or 24.

The determination of percent identity between two sequences is accomplished using the mathematical algorithm of Karlin and Altschul, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90, 5873-5877, 1993. Such an algorithm is incorporated into the BLASTN and BLASTP programs of Altschul et al. (1990) J. Mol. Biol. 215, 403-410. BLAST nucleotide searches are performed with the BLASTN program, score=100, wordlength=12, to obtain nucleotide sequences homologous to HIN-1-encoding nucleic acids. BLAST protein searches are performed with the BLASTP program, score=50, wordlength=3, to obtain amino acid sequences homologous to the TAS2R polypeptide. To obtain gapped alignments for comparative purposes, Gapped BLAST is utilized as described in Altschul et al. (1997) Nucleic Acids Res. 25, 3389-3402. When utilizing BLAST and Gapped BLAST programs, the default parameters of the respective programs.

Hybridization can also be used as a measure of homology between two nucleic acid sequences. A nucleic acid sequence encoding any of the TAS2R disclosed herein, or a portion thereof, can be used as a hybridization probe according to standard hybridization techniques. The hybridization of a TAS2R probe to DNA or RNA from a test source (e.g., a mammalian cell) is an indication of the presence of the relevant TAS2R DNA or RNA in the test source. Hybridization conditions are known to those skilled in the art and can be found in Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley & Sons, N.Y., 6.3.1-6.3.6, 1991. Moderate hybridization conditions are defined as equivalent to hybridization in 2× sodium chloride/sodium citrate (SSC) at 30° C., followed by a wash in 1 X SSC, 0.1% SDS at 50° C. Highly stringent conditions are defined as equivalent to hybridization in 6× sodium chloride/sodium citrate (SSC) at 45° C., followed by a wash in 0.2×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 65° C.

An “isolated DNA” is either (1) a DNA that contains sequence not identical to that of any naturally occurring sequence, or (2), in the context of a DNA with a naturally-occurring sequence (e.g., a cDNA or genomic DNA), a DNA free of at least one of the genes that flank the gene containing the DNA of interest in the genome of the organism in which the gene containing the DNA of interest naturally occurs. The term therefore includes a recombinant DNA incorporated into a vector, into an autonomously replicating plasmid or virus, or into the genomic DNA of a prokaryote or eukaryote. The term also includes a separate molecule such as a cDNA where the corresponding genomic DNA has introns and therefore a different sequence; a genomic fragment that lacks at least one of the flanking genes; a fragment of cDNA or genomic DNA produced by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and that lacks at least one of the flanking genes; a restriction fragment that lacks at least one of the flanking genes; a DNA encoding a non-naturally occurring protein such as a fusion protein, mutein, or fragment of a given protein; and a nucleic acid which is a degenerate variant of a cDNA or a naturally occurring nucleic acid. In addition, it includes a recombinant nucleotide sequence that is part of a hybrid gene, i.e., a gene encoding a non-naturally occurring fusion protein. It will be apparent from the foregoing that isolated DNA does not mean a DNA present among hundreds to millions of other DNA molecules within, for example, cDNA or genomic DNA libraries or genomic DNA restriction digests in, for example, a restriction digest reaction mixture or an electrophoretic gel slice.

A further aspect of the present invention is a vector containing the polynucleotide(s) of the present invention or a protein encoded by a polynucleotide of the present invention The term “vector” refers to a protein or a polynucleotide or a mixture thereof which is capable of being introduced or of introducing the proteins and/or nucleic acid comprised into a cell. It is preferred that the proteins encoded by the introduced polynucleotide are expressed within the cell upon introduction of the vector.

In a preferred embodiment the vector of the present invention comprises plasmids, phagemids, phages, cosmids, artificial mammalian chromosomes, knock-out or knock-in constructs, viruses, in particular adenoviruses, vaccinia viruses, attenuated vaccinia viruses, canary pox viruses, lentivirus (Chang, L. J. and Gay, E. E. (20001) Curr. Gene Therap. 1:237-251), herpes viruses, in particular Herpes simplex virus (HSV-1, Carlezon, W. A. et al. (2000) Crit. Rev. Neurobiol.), baculovirus, retrovirus, adeno-associated-virus (AAV, Carter, P. J. and Samulski, R. J. (2000) J. Mol. Med. 6:17-27), rhinovirus, human immune deficiency virus (HIV), filovirus and engineered versions thereof (see, for example, Cobinger G. P. et al (2001) Nat. Biotechnol. 19:225-30), virosomes, “naked” DNA liposomes, and nucleic acid coated particles, in particular gold spheres. Particularly preferred are viral vectors like adenoviral vectors or retroviral vectors (Lindemann et al. (1997) Mol. Med. 3:466-76 and Springer et al. (1998) Mol. Cell. 2:549-58). Liposomes are usually small unilamellar or multilamellar vesicles made of cationic, neutral and/or anionic lipids, for example, by ultrasound treatment of liposomal suspensions. The DNA can, for example, be ionically bound to the surface of the liposomes or internally enclosed in the liposome. Suitable lipid mixtures are known in the art and comprise, for example, DOTMA (1,2-Dioleyloxpropyl-3-trimethylammoniumbromid) and DPOE (Dioleoylphosphatidyl-ethanolamin) which both have been used on a variety of cell lines.

Nucleic acid coated particles are another means for the introduction of nucleic acids into cells using so called “gene guns”, which allow the mechanical introduction of particles into the cells. Preferably the particles itself are inert, and therefore, are in a preferred embodiment made out of gold spheres.

In a further aspect the polynucleotide of the present invention is operatively linked to expression control sequences allowing expression in prokaryotic and/or eukaryotic host cells. The transcriptional/translational regulatory elements referred to above include but are not limited to inducible and non-inducible, constitutive, cell cycle regulated, metabolically regulated promoters, enhancers, operators, silencers, repressors and other elements that are known to those skilled in the art and that drive or otherwise regulate gene expression. Such regulatory elements include but are not limited to regulatory elements directing constitutive expression like, for example, promoters transcribed by RNA polymerase III like, e.g., promoters for the snRNA U6 or scRNA 7SK gene, the cytomegalovirus hCMV immediate early gene, the early or late promoters of SV40 adenovirus, viral promoter and activator sequences derived from, e.g., NBV, HCV, HSV, HPV, EBV, HTLV, MMTV or HIV; which allow inducible expression like, for example, CUP-1 promoter, the tet-repressor as employed, for example, in the tet-on or tet-off systems, the lac system, the trp system; regulatory elements directing tissue specific expression, preferably taste bud specific expression, e.g., PLCβ2 promoter or gust-ducin promoter, regulatory elements directing cell cycle specific expression like, for example, cdc2, cdc25C or cyclin A; or the TAC system, the TRC system, the major operator and promoter regions of phage A, the control regions of fd coat protein, the promoter for 3-phosphoglycerate kinase, the promoters of acid phosphatase, and the promoters of the yeast a- or a-mating factors.

As used herein, “operatively linked” means incorporated into a genetic construct so that expression control sequences effectively control expression of a coding sequence of interest.

Similarly, the polynucleotides of the present invention can form part of a hybrid gene encoding additional polypeptide sequences, for example, a sequence that functions as a marker or reporter. Examples of marker and reporter genes include β-lactamase, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT), adenosine deaminase (ADA), aminoglycoside phosphotransferase (neo^(r), G418^(r)), dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), hygromycin-B-phosphotransferase (HPH), thymidine kinase (TK), lacZ (encoding β-galactosidase), and xanthine guanine phosphoribo-syltransferase (XGPRT). As with many of the standard procedures associated with the practice of the invention, skilled artisans will be aware of additional useful reagents, for example, additional sequences that can serve the function of a marker or reporter. Generally, the hybrid polypeptide will include a first portion and a second portion; the first portion being a TAS2R polypeptide and the second portion being, for example, the reporter described above or an Ig constant region or part of an Ig constant region, e.g., the CH2 and CH3 domains of IgG2a heavy chain. Other hybrids could include an antigenic tag or His tag to facilitate purification and/or detection. Recombinant nucleic acid molecules can also contain a polynucleotide sequence encoding a TAS2R polypeptide operatively linked to a heterologous signal sequence. Such signal sequences can direct the protein to different compartments within the cell and are well known to someone of skill in the art. A preferred signal sequence is a sequence that facilitates secretion of the resulting protein.

Another aspect of the present invention is a host cell genetically engineered with the polynucleotide or the vector as outlined above. The host cells that may be used for purposes of the invention include but are not limited to prokaryotic cells such as bacteria (for example, E. coli and B. subtilis), which can be transformed with, for example, recombinant bacteriophage DNA, plasmid DNA, or cosmid DNA expression vectors containing the polynucleotide molecules of the invention; simple eukaryotic cells like yeast (for example, Saccharomyces and Pichia), which can be transformed with, for example, recombinant yeast expression vectors containing the polynucleotide molecule of the invention; insect cell systems like, for example, Sf9 of Hi5 cells, which can be infected with, for example, recombinant virus expression vectors (for example, baculovirus) containing the polynucleotide molecules of the invention; Xenopus oocytes, which can be injected with, for example, plasmids; plant cell systems, which can be infected with, for example, recombinant virus expression vectors (for example, cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) or tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)) or transformed with recombinant plasmid expression vectors (for example, Ti plasmid) containing a TAS2R nucleotide sequence; or mammalian cell systems (for example, COS, CHO, BHK, HEK293, VERO, HeLa, MDCK, Wi38, and NIH 3T3 cells), which can be transformed with recombinant expression constructs containing, for example, promoters derived, for example, from the genome of mammalian cells (for example, the metallothionein promoter) from mammalian viruses (for example, the adenovirus late promoter and the vaccinia virus 7.5K promoter) or from bacterial cells (for example, the tet-repressor binding its employed in the tet-on and tetoff systems). Also useful as host cells are primary or secondary cells obtained directly from a mammal and transfected with a plasmid vector or infected with a viral vector. Depending on the host cell and the respective vector used to introduce the polynucleotide of the invention the polynucleotide can integrate, for example, into the chromosome or the mitochondrial DNA or can be maintained extrachromosomally like, for example, episomally or can be only transiently comprised in the cells.

In a preferred embodiment, the TAS2R encoded by the polynucleotides of the present invention and which are expressed by such cells are functional, i.e., upon binding to one or more bitter molecules they trigger an activation pathway in the cell. The cells are preferably mammalian (e.g., human, non-human primate, horse, bovine, sheep, goat, pig, dog, cat, goat, rabbit mouse, rat, guinea pig, hamster, or gerbil) cells, insect cells, bacterial cells, or fungal (including yeast) cells.

A further aspect of the present invention is a transgenic non-human animal containing a polynucleotide, a vector and/or a host cell as described above. The animal can be a mosaic animal, which means that only part of the cells making up the body comprise polynucleotides, vectors, and/or cells of the present invention or the animal can be a transgenic animal which means that all cells of the animal comprise the polynucleotides and/or vectors of the present invention or are derived from a cell of the present invention. Mosaic or transgenic animals can be either homo- or heterozygous with respect to the polynucleotides of the pre-sent invention contained in the cell. In a preferred embodiment the transgenic animals are either homo- or heterozygous knock-out or knock-in animals with respect to the genes which code for the proteins of the present invention. The animals can in principal be any animal, preferably, however, it is a mammal, selected from the group of non-human pimate horse, bovine, sheep, goat, pig, dog, cat, goat, rabbit, mouse, rat, guinea pig, hamster, or gerbil. Another aspect of the present invention is a process for producing a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide of the present invention comprising: culturing the host cell described above and recovering the polypeptide encoded by said polynucleotide. Preferred combinations of host cells and vectors are outlined above and further combination will be readily apparent to someone of skill in the art. Depending on the intended later use of the recovered peptide a suitable cell type can be chosen. Eukaryotic cells are preferably chosen, if it is desired that the proteins produced by the cells exhibit an essentially natural pattern of glycosylation and prokaryotic cells are chosen, if, for example, glycosylation or other modifications, which are normally introduced into proteins only in eukaryotic cells, are not desired or not needed.

A further aspect of the invention is a process for producing cells capable of expressing at least one of the bitter taste receptor polypeptides comprising genetically engineering cells in vitro with at least one of the vectors described above, wherein said bitter taste receptor polypeptide(s) is(are) encoded by a polynucleotide of the present invention. Another aspect of the invention is a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence encoded by a polynucleotide of the invention or obtainable by the process mentioned above. The polypeptides of the invention include all those disclosed herein and functional fragments of these polypeptides. “Polypeptide” and “protein” are used interchangeably and mean any peptidelinked chain of amino acids, regardless of length or posttranslational modification. As used herein, a functional fragment of a TAS2R is a fragment of the TAS2R that is shorter than the full-length TAS2R but that has at least 20% (e.g., at least: 20%; 30%; 40%; 50%; 60%; 70%; 80%; 90%; 95%; 98%; 99%; 99.5%; or 100% or even more) of the ability of the full-length TAS2R to bind to a bitter substance to which the full-length TAS2R binds. Binding assays and bitter substances are described herein. Further bitter substances can be identified by the binding assays and bitter taste receptor activity assays described herein. The polypeptides embraced by the invention also include fusion proteins that contain either a full-length TAS2R polypeptide or a functional fragment of it fused to an unrelated amino acid sequence. The unrelated sequences can be additional functional domains or signal peptides. Signal peptides are described in greater detail and exemplified below.

The polypeptides can be any of those described above but with not more than 50 (e.g., not more than: 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, or one) conservative substitutions. Conservative substitutions typically include substitutions within the following groups: glycine and alanine; valine, isoleucine, and leucine; aspartic acid and glutainic acid; asparagine, glutamine, serine and threonine; lysine, histidine and arginine; and phenylalanine and tyrosine. All that is required of a polypeptide having one or more conservative substitutions is that it has at least 20% (e.g., at least: 20%; 30%; 40%; 50%; 60%; 70%; 80%; 90%; 95%; 98%; 99%; 99.5%; or 100% or even more) of the ability of the wild-type, full-length TAS2R to bind to a bitter substance, preferably the ability to release intracellular calcium, when expressed in a cellular system.

The polypeptides can be purified from natural sources (e.g., blood, serum, plasma, tissues or cells such as normal tongue cells or any cell that naturally produces the relevant TAS2R polypeptides). Smaller peptides (less than 50 amino acids long) can also be conveniently synthesized by standard chemical means. In addition, both polypeptides and peptides can be produced by standard in vitro recombinant DNA techniques and in vivo transgenesis, using nucleotide sequences encoding the appropriate polypeptides or peptides. Methods well-known to those skilled in the art can be used to construct expression vectors containing relevant coding sequences and appropriate transcriptional/translational control signals. See, for example, the techniques described in Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (2nd Ed.) [Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, N.Y., 1989], and Ausubel et al., Current Protocols in Molecular Biology [Green Publishing Associates and Wiley Interscience, N.Y., 1989].

Polypeptides and fragments of the invention also include those described above, but modified for in vivo use by the addition, at the amino- and/or carboxyl-terminal ends, of blocking agents to facilitate survival of the relevant polypeptide in vivo. This can be useful in those situations in which the peptide termini tend to be degraded by proteases prior to cellular uptake. Such blocking agents can include, without limitation, additional related or unrelated peptide sequences that can be attached to the amino and/or carboxyl terminal residues of the peptide to be administered. This can be done either chemically during the synthesis of the peptide or by recombinant DNA technology by methods familiar to artisans of average skill.

Alternatively, blocking agents such as pyroglutamic acid or other molecules known in the art can be attached to the amino and/or carboxyl terminal residues, or the amino group at the amino terminus or carboxyl group at the carboxyl terminus can be replaced with a different moiety. Likewise, the peptides can be covalently or noncovalently coupled to pharmaceutically acceptable “carrier” proteins prior to administration.

Also of interest are peptidomimetic compounds that are designed based upon the amino acid sequences of the functional peptides or peptide fragments. Peptidomimetic compounds are synthetic compounds having a three-dimensional conformation (i.e., a “peptide motif”) that is substantially the same as the three-dimensional conformation of a selected peptide. The peptide motif provides the peptidomimetic compound with the ability to bind to a bitter compound in a manner qualitatively identical to that of the TAS2R functional fragment from which the peptidomimetic was derived. Peptidomimetic compounds can have additional characteristics that enhance their therapeutic utility, such as increased cell permeability and prolonged biological half-life.

The peptidomimetics typically have a backbone that is partially or completely nonpeptide, but with side groups that are identical to the side groups of the amino acid residues that occur in the peptide on which the peptidomimetic is based. Several types of chemical bonds, e.g., ester, thioester, thioamide, retroamide, reduced carbonyl, dimethylene and ketomethylene bonds, are known in the art to be generally useful substitutes for peptide bonds in the construction of protease-resistant peptidomimetics.

The term “isolated” polypeptide or peptide fragment as used herein refers to a polypeptide or a peptide fragment which either has no naturally-occurring counterpart or has been separated or purified from components which naturally accompany it, e.g., in tissues such as tongue, pancreas, liver, spleen, ovary, testis, muscle, joint tissue, neural tissue, gastrointestinal tissue or tumor tissue, or body fluids such as blood, serum, or urine. Typically, the polypeptide or peptide fragment is considered “isolated” when it is at least 70%, by dry weight, free from the proteins and other naturally-occurring organic molecules with which it is naturally associated. Preferably, a preparation of a polypeptide (or peptide fragment thereof) of the invention is at least 80%, more preferably at least 90%, and most preferably at least 99%, by dry weight, the polypeptide (or the peptide fragment thereof), respectively, of the invention. Thus, for example, a preparation of polypeptide x is at least 80%, more preferably at least 90%, and most preferably at least 99%, by dry weight, polypeptide x. Since a polypeptide that is chemically synthesized is, by its nature, separated from the components that naturally accompany it, the synthetic polypeptide is “isolated.”

An isolated polypeptide (or peptide fragment) of the invention can be obtained, for example, by extraction from a natural source (e.g., from tissues or bodily fluids); by expression of a recombinant nucleic acid encoding the polypeptide; or by chemical synthesis. A polypeptide that is produced in a cellular system different from the source from which it naturally originates is “isolated,” because it will necessarily be free of components which naturally accompany it. The degree of isolation or purity can be measured by any appropriate method, e.g., column chromatography, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, or HPLC analysis.

A further aspect of the invention is an antibody, which specifically binds to the polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide of the invention or obtainable by the process mentioned above. The term “antibody” comprises monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies and binding fragments thereof, in particular Fe-fragments as well as so called “single-chain-antibodies” (Bird R. E. et al (1988) Science 242:423-6), chimeric, humanized, in particular CDR-grafted antibodies, and dia or tetrabodies (Holliger P. et al (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 90:6444-8). Also comprised are immunoglobulin like proteins that are selected through techniques including, for example, phage display to specifically bind to the polypeptides of the present invention. Preferred antibodies bind to the extracellular domain of bitter receptors and in particular to those domains responsible for binding to bitter tastants.

In yet another embodiment there is provided a molecule, or collections of molecules containing a molecule, that act to antagonise aforementioned receptors in particular the bitter taste response, and methods for screening for such molecules.

Therefore, a further aspect of the invention is a nucleic acid molecule which specifically hybridizes to a polynucleotide of the present invention. In particular this nucleic acid molecule is an inhibiting RNA. Preferred inhibiting RNAs are antisense constructs hybridizing to a polynucleotide of the present invention, RNAi, siRNA or a ribozyme. The design of such inhibiting RNAs would be readily apparent to someone of skill in the art.

Another type of antagonist/inhibitor against the polypeptides of the present invention is an antibody, which is preferably directed against the extracellular domain of the respective bitter taste receptor and even more preferably binds to the site(s) of the receptor that interact(s) with the bitter substance(s) essentially without triggering the release of intracellular calcium. Further antagonists to the bitter taste response of a receptor are fragments of the receptor which have the capability to bind to the bitter substances as defined above. Such fragments can bind to the bitter substance and, thus, competitively antagonize the activity of the respective TAS2R. If such antagonists are, for example, employed within foodstuff to suppress the bitter taste of a specific bitter substance they might be exposed to a proteolytic environment and in this case the modifications of the polypeptides outlined above could be used to stabilize the competitive bitter receptor antagonist. However, various additional modifications, which stabilize such fragments will be readily apparent to the skilled person.

Antagonists and agonists of the bitter taste receptors described herein are of great importance for specific stimulation of a given bitter taste receptor or to antagonize it. The bitter taste response of the receptor is elicited by the specific binding of the respective bitter substance. Therefore, the present invention is also directed at a process for isolating a compound that binds to a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of:

-   (a) polynucleotides encoding at least the mature form of the     polypeptide having the deduced amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ     ID NOs1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33,     35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47 and 49; -   (b) polynucleotides having the coding sequence, as shown in SEQ ID     NOs: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34,     36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48 and 50 encoding at least the mature form     of the polypeptide; -   (c) polynucleotides encoding a fragment or derivative of a     polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide of any one of (a) to (b),     wherein in said derivative one or more amino acid residues are     conservatively substituted compared to said polypeptide, and said     fragment or derivative has bitter substance binding activity; -   (d) polynucleotides which are at least 50% identical to a     polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (c) and which code     for a polypeptide having bitter substance binding activity; and -   (e) polynucleotides the complementary strand of which hybridizes,     preferably under stringent conditions to a polynucleotide as defined     in any one of (a) to (d) and which code for a polypeptide having     bitter substance binding activity;     comprising: -   (1) contacting said polypeptide or a host cell genetically     engineered with said polynucleotide or with a vector containing said     polynucleotide with a compound; -   (2) detecting the presence of the compound which binds to said     polypeptide; and -   (3) determining whether the compound binds said polypeptide.

A polynucleotide employed in this process is in preferred embodiments of the invention at least 50% (or 55%, 65%, 75%, 85°/a, 95%, or 98%) identical to: (a) a nucleic acid molecule that encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47 or 49; (b) the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NOs: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48 or 50; and has a length of at least 30 (e.g., at least 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 250, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 850, 900, 950, 1000, or 1010) of the nucleotides of SEQ ID NOs: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, or 50.

Furthermore for all of the above described hTAS2Rs, which can be employed in a process for isolating binding compounds, with the exception of hTAS2R40, single nucleotide polymorphisms are known. 79 of these are listed in Table I below. 61 of those result in an amino acid change. Polynucleotides or polypeptides that differ from the respectively in SEQ ID 1-50 indicated sequences by the nucleotide and amino acid change as indicted in Table I can similarly be employed for the process of the present invention.

TABLE I Gen + Substitution Position Acession Amino Base Amino Allelic No. Name of SNP Base acid pair acid frequency hTAS2R1 rs2234231 C/T P/L 128 43 unknown NM019599 rs41469 G/A R/H 332 111 A 0.46/G 0.54 rs223432 G/A C/Y 422 141 unknown rs2234233 C/T R/W 616 206 C 0.87/T 0.13 rs2234234 C/T S/S 675 225 unknown rs2234235 T/C L/L 850 284 unknown hTAS2R3 rs227009 C/T G/G 807 369 unknown NM016943 hTAS2R4 ss3181498 G/A R/Q 8 3 unknown NM016944 rs2233996 G/C R/R 9 3 unknown rs2233997 A/C Y/C 17 6 unknown rs2233998 T/C F/S 20 7 unknown rs2233999 T/A F/L 186 62 unknown rs2234000 C/T T/M 221 74 C 0.94/T 0.56 rs2234001 G/C V/L 286 96 C 0.78/G 0.22 rs2234002 G/A S/N 512 171 A 0.78/G 0.22 rs2234003 A/G I/V 571 191 unknown hTAS2R5 rs2234013 G/A G/S 58 20 unknown NM018980 rs2227264 G/T S/I 77 26 unknown rs2234014 C/T P/L 338 113 unknown rs2234015 G/A R/Q 638 213 unknown rs2234016 G/T R/L 294 881 unknown hTAS2R7 rs3759251 A/T T/S 787 263 A 0.97/T 0.03 NM023919 rs3759252 C/A I/I 828 276 unknown rs619381 G/A M/I 912 304 unknown hTAS2R8 ss2391467 G/A L/L 549 183 unknown NM023918 rs2537817 A/G M/V 922 308 unknown hTAS2R9 rs3741845 T/C V/A 560 187 C 073/T 027 NM23917 rs3944035 C/T L/F 910 304 unknown rs2159903 C/T P/L 926 309 unknown hTAS2R10 rs597468 C/T T/M 467 156 unknown NM23921 hTAS2R13 ss1478988 A/G N/S 776 259 C 0.73/T 0.27 NM23920 hTAS2R14 rs3741843 G/A R/R 375 125 A 0.97/G 0.03 NM23922 hTAS2R16 rs2233988 C/T T/T 300 100 unknown NM016945 rs2692396 G/C V/V 303 101 unknown rs2233989 T/C L/L 460 154 unknown rs846664 T/G N/K 516 172 A 0.71/C 0.29 rs860170 G/A R/H 665 222 A 0.55/G 0.45 hTAS2R38 PTC Paper G/A V/I 886 296 G 0.38/A 0.62 AF494321 rs1726866 T/C V/A 785 262 G 0.38/T 0.62 rs713598 C/T A/P 49 145 C 0.36/G 0.64 hTAS2R38 SNP1 A/T N/I 557 186 C 0.60/G 0.40 hTAS2R39 hTAS2R39 SNP1 A/AA frameshift 967 323 unknown AF494230 hTAS2R41 rs1404635 A/G T/T 189 64 unknown AF494232 hTAS2R41 SNP1 T/C L/P 380 127 unknown hTAS2R41 SNP2 A/G S/S 885 295 unknown hTAS2R42 rs1650017 G/C A/P 931 311 unknown AX097739 rs1669411 T/C N/N 930 310 unknown rs1669412 G/A R/Q 875 292 unknown rs1451772 A/G Y/C 794 265 unknown rs1669413 G/T G/W 763 255 unknown rs1650019 A/G L/L 561 187 unknown hTAS2R43 rs3759246 G/C R/T 893 298 unknown AF494237 hTAS2R43 SNP1 C/G S/W 104 35 unknown hTAS2R43 SNP2 G/A R/H 635 212 unknown hTAS2R43 SNP3 G/C T/T 663 221 unknown hTAS2R44 rs3759247 G/A W/stop 900 300 unknown AF494228 rs3759246 G/C R/T 893 298 unknown hTAS2R44 SNP1 A/T M/L 162 484 unknown hTAS2R44 SNP2 T/A F/Y 869 290 unknown hTAS2R44 SNP3 G/A V/M 899 297 unknown hTAS2R45 rs3759247 A/G G/stop 900 300 unknown AF494226 rs3759246 G/C R/T 893 298 unknown rs3759245 C/T R/C 712 238 unknown rs3759244 T/C F/L 703 235 unknown hTAS2R46 rs2708381 G/A W/stop 749 250 unknown AF494227 rs2708380 T/A L/M 682 228 unknown rs2598002 T/G F/V 106 36 unknown hTAS2R46 SNP1 A/T Q/H 888 296 unknown hTAS2R46 SNP2 A/G M/V 889 297 unknown hTAS2R46 SNP3 T/C F/F 108 36 unknown hTAS2R47 rs2597924 G/A R/H 920 307 unknown AF494233 rs1669405 T/G L/W 842 281 unknown rs2599404 T/G F/L 756 252 unknown rs2600355 T/G V/V 54 18 unknown hTAS2R48 rs1868769 T/C L/L 418 140 unknown AF494234 hTAS2R49 hTAS2R49 A/G K/R 164 55 unknown AF494236 SNP1 hTAS2R50 rs1376521 A/G Y/C 608 203 G 0.66/A0.34 AF494235 hTAS2R50 SNP1 A/G P/P 777 259 unknown

A polypeptide that exhibits bitter substance binding activity is a polypeptide that has at least 20% (e.g., at least: 20%; 30%; 40%; 50%; 60%; 70%; 80%; 90%; 95%; 98%; 99%; 99.5%; or 100% or even more) of the ability of the respective full-length TAS2R to bind to a given bitter substance. Binding assays and bitter substances are described herein.

The term “contacting” in the context of the present invention means any interaction between the compound with the polypeptide of the invention, whereby any of the at least two components can be independently of each other in a liquid phase, for example in solution, or in suspension or can be bound to a solid phase, for example, in the form of an essentially planar surface or in the form of particles, pearls or the like. In a preferred embodiment a multitude of different compounds are immobilized on a solid surface like, for example, on a compound library chip and the protein of the present invention is subsequently contacted with such a chip. In another preferred embodiment the cells genetically engineered with the polynucleotide of the invention or with a vector containing such a polynucleotide express the bitter taste receptor at the cell surface and are contacted separately in small containers, e.g., microtitre plates, with various compounds.

Detecting the presence and the binding of the compound to the polypeptide can be carried out, for example, by measuring a marker that can be attached either to the protein or to the compound. Suitable markers are known in the art and comprise, for example, fluorescence, enzymatic or radioactive markers. The binding of the two components can, however, also be measured by the change of an electrochemical parameter of the binding compound or of the protein, e.g. a change of the redox properties of either the protein or the binding compound, upon binding. Suitable methods of detecting such changes comprise, for example, potentiometric methods. Further methods for detecting and/or measuring the binding of the two components to each other are known in the art and can without limitation also be used to measure the binding of the compound to the polypeptide. The effect of the binding of the compound on the activity of the polypeptide can also be measured by assessing changes in the cells that express the polypeptides, for example, by assaying the intracellular release of calcium upon binding of the compound.

As a further step after measuring the binding of a compound and after having measured the binding strength of at least two different compounds at least one compound can be selected, for example, on grounds of a higher binding strength or on grounds of the detected intracellular release of calcium.

The thus selected compound is than in a preferred embodiment modified in a further step. Modification can be effected by a variety of methods known in the art, which include without limitation the introduction of one or more, preferably two, three or four novel side chains or residues or the exchange of one or more functional groups like, for example, introduction or exchange of halogens, in particular F, Cl or Br; the introduction or exchange of lower alkyl residues, preferably having one to five carbon atoms like, for example, methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, tert-butyl, n-pentyl or iso-pentyl residues; lower alkenyl residues, preferably having two, three, four or five carbon atoms; lower alkinyl residues, preferably having two, three, four or five carbon atoms, which can in a preferred embodiment be further substituted with F, Cl, Br, NH₂, NO₂, OH, SH, NH, CN, aryl, heteroaryl, COH or COOH group; or the introduction of, for example, one or more residue(s) selected from the group consisting of NH₂, NO₂, OH, SH, NH, CN, aryl, alkylaryl, heteroaryl, alkylheteroaryl, COH or COOH group.

The thus modified binding substances are than individually tested with the method of the pre-sent invention, i.e. they are contacted with the polypeptide as such or with the polypeptide expressed in a cell, and subsequently binding of the modified compounds is measured. In this step both the binding per se can be measured and/or the effect of the function of the protein like, e.g. the intracellular calcium release. If needed the steps of selecting the compound, modifying the compound, contacting the compound with a polypeptide of the invention and measuring the binding of the modified compound to the polypeptide can be repeated a third or any given number of times as required. The above described method is also termed “directed evolution” of the compound since it involves a multitude of steps including modification and selection, whereby binding compounds are selected in an “evolutionary” process optimizing their capabilities with respect to a particular property, e.g. its binding activity, its ability to activate, inhibit or modulate the activity, in particular inhibit the intracellular release of calcium mediated by the polypeptides of the present invention.

Of particular interest are compounds that antagonize the bitter taste receptor activity of the TAS2Rs disclosed and described herein. The specification thereby enables the skilled person to design intelligent compound libraries to screen for antagonists to the bitter response of these receptors, which in turn enables the development of compounds and compositions to suppress or eliminate bitter tasting components of foods, in particular animal foods, nutrients and dietary supplements and pharmaceutical or homeopathic preparations containing such phyto-chemicals. Similarly, the invention also enables the skilled person to screen for additional bitter ligands, or even to screen for compounds that enhance a bitter response, such as might be useful in the food industry. Therefore, another aspect of the invention is a process for isolating an antagonist of the bitter taste receptor activity of the polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of:

-   (a) polynucleotides encoding at least the mature form of the     polypeptide having the deduced amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ     ID NONOs: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31,     33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47 and 49; -   (b) polynucleotides having the coding sequence, as shown in SEQ ID     NOs: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34,     36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48 and 50 encoding at least the mature form     of the polypeptide; -   (c) polynucleotides encoding a fragment or derivative of a     polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide of any one of (a) to (b),     wherein in said derivative one or more amino acid residues are     conservatively substituted compared to said polypeptide, and said     fragment or derivative has bitter taste receptor activity; -   (d) polynucleotides which are at least 50% identical to a     polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (c) and which code     for a polypeptide having bitter taste receptor activity; and -   (e) polynucleotides the complementary strand of which hybridizes,     preferably under stringent conditions to a polynucleotide as defined     in any one of (a) to (d) and which code for a polypeptide having     bitter taste receptor activity;     comprising: -   (1) contacting said polypeptide or a host cell genetically     engineered with said polynucleotide or with a vector containing said     polynucleotide with a potential antagonist; -   (2) determining whether the potential antagonists antagonizes the     bitter taste receptor activity of said polypeptide.

The polynucleotide employed in this process encodes a polypeptide that still exhibits essentially the same activity as the respective mature bitter taste receptor, i.e. has “bitter taste receptor activity”. Preferably the polypeptide has at least 20% (e.g., at least: 20%; 30%; 40%; 50%; 60%; 70%; 80%; 90%; 95%; 98%; 99%; 99.5%; or 100% or even more) of the activity of the respective full-length TAS2R. One preferred way of measuring TAS2R activity is the ability to release intracellular calcium in a heterologous cell expression system like, for example, (HEK293/15) that stably expresses the alpha-subunit of promiscuous G-proteins, e.g. the mouse G₁₅ subunit or chimeric, in response to bitter tastants, which is dependent on the expression of polypeptides encoded by the polynucleotides of the present invention. The amount of intracellular calcium released can be monitored by, for example, the in vitro FLIPR assay described herein but also by the measurement of one of a variety of other parameters including, for example, IP₃ or cAMP. Additional ways of measuring G-protein coupled receptor activity are known in the art and comprise without limitation electrophysiological methods, transcription assays, which measure, e.g. activation or repression of reporter genes which are coupled to regulatory sequences regulated via the respective G-protein coupled signaling pathway, such reporter proteins comprise, e.g., CAT or LUC; assays measuring internalization of the receptor; or assays in frog melanophore systems, in which pigment movement in melanophores is used as a read out for the activity of adenylate cyclase or phospholipase C (PLC), which in turn are coupled via G-proteins to exogenously expressed receptors (see, for example, McClintock T. S. et al. (1993) Anal. Biochem. 209: 298-305; McClintock T. S, and Lerner M. R. (1997) Brain Res. Brain, Res. Protoc. 2: 59-68, Potenza M N (1992) Pigment Cell Res. 5: 372-328, and Potenza M. N. (1992) Anal. Biochem. 206: 315-322)

As described above with the exception of hTAS2R40, single nucleotide polymorphisms are known for all of the above hTAS2R5, which can be employed in a process for isolating an antagonist of the bitter taste receptor activity. Polynucleotides or polypeptides that differ from the respectively in SEQ ID 1-50 indicated sequences by the nucleotide and amino acid change as indicted in Table I can similarly be employed for the process of the present invention.

The term “contacting” has the meaning as outlined above. A potential antagonist is a sub-stance which lowers the respective bitter taste receptor activity determined in the absence of the antagonist by at least 10% (e.g., at least: 1%, 15% 20%; 30%; 40%; 50%; 60%; 70%; 80%; 90%; 95%; 98%; 99%; 99.5%; or 100%) once contacted with the bitter taste receptor.

In a preferred embodiment the process further comprises the contacting of the polypeptide with an agonist of the respective bitter taste receptor activity. The contacting of the bitter taste receptor with the agonist can be carried out prior, concomitantly or after contacting the polypeptide with the potential antagonist.

It has been demonstrated by the inventors that the bitter receptors hTAS2R10, hTAS2R14, hTAS2R16, hTAS2R38, hTAS2R43, hTAS2R44, hTAS2R45, hTAS2R46 and hTAS2R48 respond with specificity to (a) defined classe(s) of ligand(s) that include a class of useful phyto-chemicals in a functional expression assay. Therefore, in an even more preferred embodiment the polypeptides and agonist employed together in above process are selected from the group consisting of:

-   (a) the polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide outlined above as     determined by SEQ ID NO: 1 and SEQ ID NO: 2 and the agonist selected     from the group consisting of acetyl-thiourea,     N,N-dimethylthioformamide, N,N′-diphenylthiourea, N-ethylthiourea,     2-imidazolidinethione, 4(6)-methyl-2-thiouracil, N-methylthiourea,     phenylthio-carbamid, 6-phenyl-2-thiouracil, 6-propyl-2-thiouracil,     tetramethylthiourea, thioacetamide, thioacetanilide,     2-thiobarbituric acid, and 2-thiouracil and functional derivatives     thereof; -   (b) the polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide of claim 1 or 2 as     determined by SEQ ID NO: 9 and SEQ ID NO: 10 and the agonist     selected from the group consisting of saccharin and functional     derivatives thereof; -   (c) the polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide of claim 1 or 2 as     determined by SEQ ID NO: 11 and SEQ ID NO: 12 and the agonist     selected from the group consisting of saccharin and acesulfame K and     functional derivatives thereof; -   (d) the polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide of claim 1 or 2 as     determined by SEQ ID NO: 13 and SEQ ID NO: 14 and the agonist     selected from the group consisting of absinthine and functional     derivatives thereof; -   (e) the polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide of claim 1 or 2 as     determined by SEQ ID NO: 15 and SEQ ID NO: 16 and the agonist     selected from the group consisting of absinthine and functional     derivatives thereof; -   (f) the polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide of claim 1 or 2 as     determined by SEQ ID NO: 19 and SEQ ID NO: 20 and the agonist     selected from the group consisting of absinthine and functional     derivatives thereof; -   (g) the polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide of claim 1 or 2 as     determined by SEQ ID NO: 37 and SEQ ID NO: 38 and the agonist     selected from the group consisting of strychnine, brucine,     denatonium benzoate, and absinthine and functional derivatives     thereof; -   (h) the polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide of claim 1 or 2 as     determined by SEQ ID NO: 41 and SEQ ID NO: 42 and the agonist     selected from the group consisting of tyrosine, preferably     L-tyrosine, and other bitter tasting amino acids including, e.g.,     leucine, histidine phenylalanine and tryptophan, and functional     derivatives thereof; and -   (i) the polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide of claim 1 or 2 as     determined by SEQ ID NO: 43 and SEQ ID NO: 44 and the agonist     selected from the group consisting of naphtyl-β-D-glucoside,     phenyl-β-D-glucoside, salicin, helicin, arbutin,     2-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucoside, 4-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucoside,     methyl-β-D-glucoside, esculin, 4-nitrophenyl-β-D-thioglucoside,     4-nitrophenyl-β-D-mannoside, and amygdalin and functional     derivatives thereof.

The term “functional derivatives thereof” refers to substances, which are derived from the respectively indicated bitter substance by chemical modification and which elicit at least 20% (e.g., at least: 20%; 30%; 40%; 50%; 60%; 70%; 80%; 90%; 95%; 98%; 99%; 99.5%; or 100% or even more) of the bitter taste receptor activity, if compared to the respective unmodified bitter substance. Chemical modification includes without limitation the introduction of one or more, preferably two, three or four novel side chains or residues or the exchange of one or more functional groups like, for example, introduction or exchange of H; linear or branched alkyl, in particular lower alkyl (C₁, C₂, C₃, C₄, and C₅, e.g. methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, tert-butyl, n-pentyl or iso-pentyl); substituted linear or branched alkyl, in particular lower substituted alkyl; linear or branched alkenyl, in particular lower alkenyl (C₂, C₃, C₄ and C₅, e.g. ethenyl, 1-propenyl, 2-propenyl, iso-propenyl, 1-butenyl, 2-butenyl, 3-butenyl; substituted linear or branched alkenyl, in particular lower substituted alkenyl; linear or branched alkinyl, in particular lower alkinyl (C₂, C₃, C₄ and C₅); substituted linear or branched alkinyl, in particular lower substituted alkinyl; linear or branched alkanol, in particular lower alkanol (C₁, C₂, C₃, C₄, and C₅); linear or branched alkanal, in particular lower alkanal (C₁, C₂, C₃, C₄, and C₅, e.g. COH, CH₂COH, CH₂CH₂COH; aryl, in particular phenyl; substituted aryl, in particular substituted aryl; heteroaryl; substituted heteroaryl; alkylaryl, in particular benzyl; substituted alkylaryl; in particular substituted benzyl; alkylheteroaryl; substituted alkylheteroaryl; aminoalkyl, C₁, C₂, C₃, C₄ and C₅, e.g. —NHCH₃, —NHCH₂CH₃, —N(CH₃)₂; substituted aminoalkyl; aminoketone, in particular —NHCOCH₃; substituted aminoketone; aminoaryl, in particular —NH-Ph; substituted aminoaryl, in particular substituted —NH-Ph; CN; NH₂; Halogen, in particular F, Cl, and Br; NO₂; OH; SH; NH; CN; or COOH group. If the residues mentioned above are substituted they are preferably mono, di, or tri substituted with a substituent selected from the group of halogen, in particular F, Cl, and Br, NH₂, NO₂, OH, SH, NH, CN, aryl, alkylaryl, heteroaryl, alkylheteroaryl, COH or COOH.

In particular the hTAS2R16 receptor has been shown to respond specifically to a narrow class of interesting phyto-chemicals selected from the group consisting of bitter beta-glucopyranosides and mannopyranosides.

The beta-glucopyranosides and beta-mannosepyranosides are a group of bitter compounds consisting of a hydrophobic residue attached to glucose and mannose, respectively, by a beta-glycosidic bond.

Preferred compounds that bind to the hTAS2R16 taste receptor are chosen from beta glucopyranosides and beta-mannopyranosides defined by the formula:

These compounds were studied in vitro (see Table I and IV below) and also by human panelists (see Table I below) as is described in greater detail below.

From these studies certain inferences can be drawn regarding the affinity of the compounds towards activation of the hTAS2R16 receptor. Thus, for the promotion of activation the steric position at C2 can be either alpha or beta and the beta-configuration of the glycosidic bond and the alpha steric position of the hydroxyl group at C4 of the pyranose ring are preferred. Whereas R can be hydrogen, it is preferred that R is a substituent selected from C₁-C₈ alkyl which may be branched, linear or cyclic as appropriate; lower alkenyl residues, preferably having two, three, four or five carbon atoms; lower alkinyl residues, preferably having two, three, four or five carbon atoms, which can in a preferred embodiment be further substituted with F, Cl, Br, NH₂, NO₂, OH, SH, NH, CN, aryl, heteroaryl, COH or COOH group; heteroaryl, e.g. benzofuran and cumarin; aryl, e.g. phenyl, naphtyl; or the same of other sugar residue, e.g. glucopyranoside, which itself can carry a substituent R with the meaning as outlined above. Bulkier groups at Cl may increase the activation of the receptor. The aryl or heteroaryl may be further substituted with one or more substituents. Preferred substituents of the aryl or heteroaryl group are F, Br, Cl, NO₂, lower alkyl with one, two, three, four, five, six, seven or eight carbon atoms and CH₂OH. The phenyl group is preferably mono, di, or trisubstituted in ortho, para and/or meta position(s). The substituent at C6 is shown as an hydroxyl group above. However, the compounds activity as agonists are little effected by further or alternative substitution at this position, and there is design freedom at this part of the compound. Furthermore, without intending to be bound by theory, it is thought that the substituent “R” is not responsible for bitterness in these compounds. Rather, bitterness is thought to derive from a hydrogen acceptor and donor site provided by two hydroxyl groups on the ring. In another embodiment the β-glycosidic bond of the compounds outlined above can be a S-glycosidic bond, as exemplified by the bitter substance 4-nitrophenyl-β-D-thioglucoside.

Most preferred compounds are selected from the group consisting of naphtyl-β-D-glucoside, phenyl-β-D-glucoside, salicin, helicin, arbutin, 2-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucoside, 4-nitrophenyl-β-glucoside, methyl-β-D-glucoside, esculin, 4-nitrophenyl-β-D-thioglucoside, 4-nitrophenyl-β-D-mannoside, and amygdalin.

The beta-glucopyranosides are phytonutrients that represent an important class of compounds found in plant-derived foods that may be useful as dietary supplements, or in functional foods or medicaments for the prevention of disease states. However, due to their bitter after-taste they are aversive to consumers and so they are routinely removed from foods during production and processing as is further described in Drewnowski, A. & Gomez-Carneros, C. Bitter taste, phytonutrients, and the consumer: a review. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 72, 1424-1435 (2000). Removal is laborious and therefore expensive. The alternative is to mask the off-flavor using encapsulation technologies or organoleptic compounds as masking agents. However, encapsulation technology may not be appropriate in pharmaceutics as this may affect the absorption characteristics of the active compound, whereas the use of masking agents may impart their own characteristic flavor which may unbalance the flavor of food or beverages.

Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory as to their mechanism of action, applicant believes that the bitter receptors activate a G-protein and thereby initiate the aforementioned cellular activation cascade as a result of conformational changes in the receptor after binding by a ligand. Potential antagonists of the bitter response will contain functionality (i.e., will compete for binding at the receptor, and/or act at another binding site through an allosteric mechanism, and/or stabilize the receptor in the inactive conformation, and/or bind reversibly or irreversibly, and/or weaken receptor G protein interaction, and/or interfere with G protein activation).

Similarly, in another embodiment of the invention, it has been found that the so-called hTAS2R10 receptor is activated by strychnine, and strychnine analogues such as brucine as well as by denatonium benzoate, absinthine and other alkaloids with (a) ring system(s). Strychnine and its analogues are also useful phytochemicals that find use in medicines and homeopathic treatments.

In another embodiment of the invention, it has been found that the so-called hTAS2R14 receptor is activated by tyrosine, in particular L-tyrosine, and other bitter tasting amino acids including leucine, histidine, phenylalanine and tryptophan.

In another embodiment of the invention, it has been found that the so-called hTAS2R38 receptor is activated by acetylthiourea, N,N-dimethylthioformamide, N,N′-diphenylthiourea, N-ethylthiourea, 2-imidazolidinethione, 4(6)-methyl-2-thiouracil, N-methylthiourea, phenylthio-carbamid, 6-phenyl-2-thiouracil, 6-propyl-2-thiouracil, tetramethylthiourea, thioacetamide, thioacetanilide, 2-thiobarbituric acid, and 2-thiouracil.

From these studies certain inferences can be drawn regarding the affinity of the compounds, which activate the hTAS2R38 receptor. Thus, for the promotion of activation derivatives of 2-thiouracil according to following formula are preferred compounds.

Whereas R in this formula can be hydrogen, it is preferred that R is a substituent selected from C₁-C₁₀ alkyl, which may be branched, linear or cyclic as appropriate, particularly preferred alkyls are methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, tert-butyl, n-pentyl or iso-pentyl residues; lower alkenyl residues, preferably having two, three, four or five carbon atoms; lower alkynyl residues, preferably having two, three, four or five carbon atoms, which can in a preferred embodiment be further substituted with F, Cl, Br, NH₂, NO₂, OH, SH, NH, CN, aryl, heteroaryl, COH or COOH group; heteroaryl, e.g. benzofuran and cumarin; aryl, e.g. phenyl, naphtyl; F, Cl, Br, NH₂, NO₂, OH, SH, NH, CN, aryl, alkylaryl, heteroaryl, alkylheteroaryl, COH or COOH group. ID a further embodiment the carbon atom at the 4 position can substituted with —O—R₁, in which R₁ can have the same meaning as outlined above for R.

Another general structure of compounds having affinity for hTAS2R38 and which are thus suitable for activation of hTAS2R38 is depicted by the following formula:

In this formula R₂, R₃, and R₄ can each independently of each other have the meaning H; alkyl, in particular lower alkyl (C₁-C₅, e.g. methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, tert-butyl, n-pentyl or iso-pentyl); substituted alkyl; alkenyl, in particular lower alkenyl (C₂-C₅); substituted alkenyl; alkinyl, in particular lower alkinyl (C₂-C₅); substituted alkinyl: alkanal, in particular lower alkanal (e.g. —COCH₃, —COCH₂CH₃, —COCH₂CH₂CH₃); aryl, in particular phenyl; substituted aryl; heteroaryl; substituted heteroaryl; alkylaryl, in particular benzyl; substituted alkylaryl; alkylheteroaryl; substituted alkylheteroaryl aminoalkyl, in particular —NHCH₃, —NHCH₂CH₃, —N(CH₃)₂; substituted aminoalkyl; aminoketone, in particular —NHCOCH₃; substituted aminoketone; aminoaryl, in particular —NH-Ph; substituted aminoaryl; CN; NH₂; Halogen, in particular F, Cl, and Br; NO₂. In a preferred embodiment R₂ or R₃ and R₄ can form a ring, preferably a four, five, six, seven or eight membered hetero cycle, which in a preferred embodiment is an aromatic hetero cycle. The residue of R₂ or R₃, which is not involved in the formation of the ring structure can have any of the meanings as outlined above. In a further preferred embodiment at least one of R₂ or R₃ has the meaning alkanal, preferably lower alkanal as outlined above. In case that only one of R₂ or R₃ has the meaning alkanal, than the other substituent preferably has the meaning H.

In a preferred embodiment R₂ is selected from the group consisting of H, CH₃ and Ph, R₃ is selected from the group of H, CH₃ and Ph and R₄ is selected from the group consisting of H, CH₃, NH-Ph, —NHCH₂CH₃, —NHCH₂CH₃, —NHCH₃, and —N(CH₃)₂.

In another embodiment of the invention, it has been found that the so-called hTAS2R43 receptor is activated by saccharin, derivatives thereof and other sulfonamides.

In another embodiment of the invention, it has been found that the so-called hTAS2R44 receptor is activated by saccharin and acesulfame K, derivatives thereof and other sulfonamides.

In another embodiment of the invention, it has been found that the so-called hTAS2R45, hTAS2R46 and hTAS2R48 receptor is activated by absinthine derivatives thereof and other sulfonamides.

The skilled person will appreciate that having regard to the structure-function information provided by the present invention, it is possible to compile libraries of molecules to find inhibitors of the bitter response of the disclosed hTAS2R in particular of the hTAS2R10, 14, 16, 38, 43, 44, 45, 46, and 48, which are triggered by the above outlined specific bitter substance(s). Such inhibitors, and libraries comprising same, form other aspects of the present invention. A still farther aspect of the invention relates to the use of such inhibitors in food or pharmaceutical compositions containing bitter tastants such as referred to herein above, for the elimination or suppression of bitter taste perception.

In practicing the various aspects and embodiments of the present invention in relation to cloning receptors, elucidating ligand-receptor pairs, and finding modulators of the bitter response of receptors, recourse is made to conventional techniques in molecular biology, microbiology and recombinant technology. Accordingly, the skilled person is fully apprised of such techniques and as such they are hereafter treated only summarily in order to more fully describe the context of the present invention.

In order to express cDNAs encoding the receptors, one typically subclones receptor cDNA into an expression vector that contains a strong promoter to direct transcription, a transcription/translation terminator, and a ribosome-binding site for translational initiation. Suitable bacterial promoters are well known in the art, e.g., E. Coli, Bacillus sp., and Salmonella, and kits for such expression systems are commercially available. Similarly eukaryotic expression systems for mammalian cells, yeast, and insect cells are well known in the art and are also commercially available. The eukaryotic expression vector may be, for example an adenoviral vector, an adeno-associated vector, or a retroviral vector.

In addition to the promoter, the expression vector typically contains a transcription unit or expression cassette that contains all the additional elements required for the expression of the receptor-encoding nucleic acid in host cells. A typical expression cassette thus contains a promoter operatively linked to the nucleic acid sequence encoding the receptor and signals required for efficient polyadenylation of the transcript, ribosome binding sites, and translation termination. The nucleic acid sequence encoding the receptor may typically be linked to a membrane-targeting signal such as the N-terminal 45 amino acids of the rat Somatostatin-3 receptor sequence to promote efficient cell-surface expression of the recombinant receptor. Additional elements of the cassette may include, for example enhancers.

An expression cassette should also contain a transcription termination region downstream of the structural gene to provide for efficient termination. The termination region may be obtained from the same gene as the promoter sequence or may be obtained from different genes.

The particular expression vector used to transport the genetic information into the cell is not particularly critical. Any of the conventional vectors used for expression in eukaryotic or prokaryotic cells may be used. Standard bacterial expression vectors include plasmids such as pBR322 based plasmids, pSKF, pET23D, and fusion expression systems such as GST and LacZ, but there are many more known in the art to the skilled person that can be usefully employed.

Expression vectors containing regulatory elements from eukaryotic viruses are typically used in eukaryotic expression vectors, e.g., SV40 vectors, papilloma virus vectors, and vectors derived from Epstein-Barr virus. Other exemplary eukaryotic vectors include pMSG, pAV009/A.sup.+, pMTO10/A.sup.+, pMAMneo-5, baculovirus pDSVE, pcDNA3.1, pIRES and any other vector allowing expression of proteins under the direction of the SV40 early promoter, SV40 late promoter, metallothionein promoter, murine mammary tumor virus promoter, Rous sarcoma virus promoter, polyhedrin promoter, or other promoters shown effective for expression in eukaryotic cells.

Some expression systems have markers that provide gene amplification such as thymidine kinase, hygromycin B phosphotransferase, and dihydrofolate reductase. Alternatively, high yield expression systems not involving gene amplification are also suitable.

The elements that are typically included in expression vectors also include a replicon that functions in E. Coli, a gene encoding drug resistance to permit selection of bacteria that harbor recombinant plasmids, and unique restriction sites in nonessential regions of the plasmid to allow insertion of eukaryotic sequences. The particular drug resistance gene chosen is not critical, any of the many drug resistance genes known in the art are suitable. The prokaryotic sequences are optionally chosen such that they do not interfere with the replication of the DNA in eukaryotic cells, if necessary.

Standard transfection methods can be used to produce bacterial, mammalian, yeast or insect cell lines that express large quantities of the receptor, which are then purified using standard techniques.

Any of the well known procedures for introducing foreign nucleotide sequences into host cells may be used. These include the use of calcium phosphate transfection, polybrene, protoplast fusion, electroporation, liposomes, microinjection, plasma vectors, viral vectors and any of the other well known methods for introducing cloned genomic DNA, cDNA, synthetic DNA or other foreign genetic material into a host cell. It is only necessary that the particular genetic engineering procedure used be capable of successfully introducing at least one gene into the host cell capable of expressing the receptor.

After the expression vector is introduced into the cells, the transfected cells may be cultured under conditions favoring expression of the receptor, which is recovered from the culture using standard techniques. For example the cells may be burst open either mechanically or by osmotic shock before being subject to precipitation and chromatography steps, the nature and sequence of which will depend on the particular recombinant material to be recovered. Alternatively, the recombinant protein may be recovered from the culture medium in which the recombinant cells had been cultured.

The activity of any of the receptors described herein can be assessed using a variety of in vitro and in vivo assays to determine functional, chemical, and physical effects, e.g., measuring ligand binding, secondary messengers (e.g., cAMP, cGMP, IP₃, DAG, or Ca²⁺) ion flux, phosphorylation levels, transcription levels, neurotransmitter levels, and the like. Furthermore, such assays can be used to test for inhibitors of the receptors as is well known in the art.

Samples or assays that are treated with a potential receptor inhibitor may be compared to control samples without the test compound, to examine the extent of modulation. Control samples (untreated with inhibitors) are assigned a relative receptor activity value of 100. Inhibition of receptor activity is achieved when the receptor activity value relative to the control is lower, and conversely receptor activity is enhanced when activity relative to the control is higher.

The effects of the test compounds upon the function of the receptors can be measured by examining any of the parameters described above. Any suitable physiological change that affects receptor activity can be used to assess the influence of a test compound on the receptors of this invention. When the functional consequences are determined using intact cells or animals, one can measure a variety of effects such as changes in intracellular secondary messengers such as Ca²⁺, IP₃ or cAMP.

Preferred assays for G-protein coupled receptors include cells that are loaded with ion sensitive dyes to report receptor activity. In assays for identifying modulatory compounds, changes in the level of ions in the cytoplasm or membrane voltage will be monitored using an ion sensitive or membrane voltage fluorescent indicator, respectively. For G-protein coupled receptors, promiscuous G-proteins such as G.alpha. 15 and G.alpha. 16 and chimeric G-proteins can be used in the assay of choice (see, for example, Wilkie et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 88, 10049-10053 (1991)). Such promiscuous G-proteins allow coupling of a wide range of receptors.

Receptor activation typically initiates subsequent intracellular events, e.g., increases in second messengers such as IP₃, which releases intracellular stores of calcium ions. Activation of some G-protein coupled receptors stimulates the formation of inositol triphosphate (1133) through phospholipase C-mediated hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol (Berridge & Irvine, Nature 312, 315-21 (1984)). IP3 in turn stimulates the release of intracellular calcium ion stores. Thus, a change in cytoplasmic calcium ion levels, or a change in second messenger levels such as IP₃ can be used to assess G-protein coupled receptor function. Cells expressing such G-protein coupled receptors may exhibit increased cytoplasmic calcium levels as a result of contribution from both intracellular stores and via activation of ion channels, in which case it may be desirable, although not necessary, to conduct such assays in calcium-free buffer, optionally supplemented with a chelating agent such as EGTA, to distinguish fluorescence response resulting from calcium release from internal stores.

In a preferred embodiment, receptor activity is measured by expressing the receptor in a heterologous cell with a promiscuous G-protein, such as G.alpha. 15, 16, or a chimeric G-protein that links the receptor to a phospholipase C signal transduction pathway. Optionally the cell line is HEK-293, although other mammalian cells are also preferred such as CHO and COS cells. Modulation of taste transduction is assayed by measuring changes in intracellular Ca²⁺ levels, which change in response to modulation of the receptor signal transduction pathway via administration of a molecule that associates with the receptor. Changes in Ca²⁺ levels are optionally measured using fluorescent Ca⁺ indicator dyes and fluorometric imaging.

The type of assay described above with respect to G-protein coupled bitter taste receptors can, however, also be employed for the identification of binding compounds, in particular agonists or antagonists of any G-protein coupled signalling molecule, in particular G-protein coupled receptor. Therefore, another aspect of the present invention relates to a process for the identification of agonists or antagonists of G-protein coupled signalling molecules comprising the steps of:

-   (1) contacting a cell comprising a promiscuous G-protein like, for     example, G.alpha.15, 16, or a chimeric G-protein, and a G-protein     coupled signalling molecule, in particular receptor, with a the     potential agonist or antagonists of the signalling molecule; -   (2) determining whether the potential agonist or antagonists     agonizes or antagonizes the activity of the signalling molecule.

The activity of the signalling molecule and the increase or decrease of that activity in response to the potential agonist or antagonist can be determined as outlined above with respect to the identification of bitter receptor taste activity. The respectively indicated percent increases or decreases of the activity, which are required to qualify as antagonist or agonist do apply mutatis mutandis. Additionally the term “contacting” has the meaning as outlined above. Preferably the signalling molecule and/or the promiscuous G-protein has been introduced into the cell. The type of cell, which are preferred are those indicated above.

In yet another embodiment, the ligand-binding domains of the receptors can be employed in vitro in soluble or solid-state reactions to assay for ligand binding. Ligand binding in a receptor, or a domain of a receptor, can be tested in solution, in a bilayer membrane attached to a solid phase in a lipid monolayer or vesicles. Thereby, the binding of a modulator to the receptor, or domain, can be observed using changes in spectroscopic characteristics, e.g. fluorescence, absorbance or refractive index; or hydrodynamic (e.g. shape), chromatographic, or solubility properties, as is generally known in the art.

The compounds tested as modulators of the receptors can be any small chemical compound, or a biological entity, such as a protein, sugar, nucleic acid or lipid. Typically, test compounds will be small chemical molecules. Essentially any chemical compound can be used as a potential modulator or ligand in the assays of the invention, although knowledge of the ligand specificity of an individual receptor would enable the skilled person to make an intelligent selection of interesting compounds. The assays may be designed to screen large chemical libraries by automating the assay steps and providing compounds from any convenient source to assays, which are typically run in parallel (e.g., in microtiter formats on microtiter plates in robotic assays). The skilled person will understand that there are many suppliers of libraries of chemical compounds.

Assays may be run in high throughput screening methods that involve providing a combinatorial chemical or peptide library containing a large number of potential therapeutic, or tastant compounds (that are potential ligand compounds). Such libraries are then screened in one or more assays, as described herein, to identify those library members (particular chemical species or subclasses) that display a desired characteristic activity. The compounds thus identified can serve as lead compounds to further develop modulators for final products, or can themselves be used as actual modulators.

A combinatorial chemical library is a collection of diverse chemical compounds generated by either chemical synthesis or biological synthesis, by combining a number of chemical “building blocks” such as reagents. For example, a linear combinatorial chemical library such as a polypeptide library is formed by combining a set of chemical building blocks (amino acids) in every possible way for a given compound length (i.e., the number of amino acids in a polypeptide compound). Millions of chemical compounds can be synthesized through such combinatorial mixing of chemical building blocks.

Preparation and screening of combinatorial chemical libraries is well known to those of skill in the art and no more needs to be stated here.

In the high throughput assays of the invention, it is possible to screen up to several thousand different modulators or ligands in a single day. In particular, each well of a microtiter plate can be used to run a separate assay against a selected potential modulator, or, if concentration or incubation time effects are to be observed, every 5-10 wells can test a single modulator. Thus, a single standard microtiter plate can assay about 100 (e.g., 96) modulators. If 1536 well plates are used, then a single plate can easily assay from about 100 to about 1500 different compounds. It is possible to assay several different plates per day; assay screens for up to about 6,000-20,000 different compounds is possible using the integrated systems of the invention.

Lead compounds found by assay technology herein above described, or development compounds formed from such leads can be administered directly to a human subject to modulate bitter taste. Alternatively, such compounds can be formulated with other ingredients of preparations to be taken orally, for example, foods, including animal food, and beverages, pharmaceutical or nutraceutical or homeopathic preparations.

Therefore, another aspect of the invention is a process for the production of foodstuffs or any precursor material or additive employed in the production of foodstuffs comprising the steps of the above described processes for the identification of a compound binding to hTAS2R or an antagonist of hTAS2R and the subsequent step of admixing the identified compound or antagonist with foodstuffs or any precursor material or additive employed in the production of foodstuffs.

Bitter taste is a particular problem when orally administering pharmaceuticals, which often have an unpleasant bitter taste. In particular in elderly persons, children and chronically ill patients this taste can lead to a lack of compliance with a treatment regimen. In addition in veterinary applications the oral administration of bitter tasting pharmaceuticals can be problematic. Therefore, a further aspect of the invention is a process for the production of a nutraceutical or pharmaceutical composition comprising the steps of the processes of a compound binding to hTAS2R or an antagonist of hTAS2R and the subsequent step of formulating the compound or antagonist with an active agent in a pharmaceutically acceptable form.

Consequently, a further aspect of the invention is a foodstuff, in particular animal food, or any precursor material or additive employed in the production of foodstuffs comprising an antagonist/inhibitor described above, preferably an antibody directed against one of the hTAS2Rs described herein, the extracellular domain of one of the hTAS2Rs described herein or an inhibiting RNA.

Also comprised is a nutraceutical or pharmaceutical composition comprising an antagonist/inhibitor as described above, preferably an antibody directed against one of the hTAS2Rs described herein, the extracellular domain of one of the hTAS2Rs described herein or an inhibiting RNA and an active agent, which preferably inhibits a bitter taste, and optionally a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

The amount of compound to be taken orally must be sufficient to effect a beneficial response in the human subject, and will be determined by the efficacy of the particular taste modulators and the existence, nature, and extent of any adverse side-effects that accompany the administration of a particular compound. There now follows a series of examples that serve to illustrate the invention, not to limit.

A further aspect of the present invention is the use of a polynucleotide as described above, a vector as described above, an antibody as described above or an antagonist/inhibitor of as described above, preferably an antibody directed against one of the hTAS2Rs described herein, the extracellular domain of one of the hTAS2Rs described herein or an inhibiting RNA for the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of an abnormally increased or decreased sensitivity towards a bitter substance.

Techniques associated with detection or regulation of genes are well known to skilled artisans. Such techniques can be used, for example, for basic research on bitter receptors and to diagnose and/or treat disorders associated with aberrant bitter receptor expression.

The following examples are merely illustrative of the present invention and should not be construed to limit the scope of the invention as indicated by the appended claims in any way. The contents of the U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/413,298 the priority of which is claimed is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

EXAMPLE 1 Cloning of the hTAS2R Genes

Human genomic DNA was isolated from HEK293 cells using the E.Z.N.A. Blood DNA Kit II (Peqlab) and the various hTAS2Rs were amplified by PCR using gene-specific primers that span the complete coding region of the individual hTAS2R genes. Reaction parameters were: 4 cycles; 1 min, 94° C.; 1 min, 64° C.; 1.5 min 68° C. using Advantage 2 polymerase (Clontech). 5% of the reaction served then as template for further amplification with Pfu DNA polymerase (Promega): 30 cycles; 1 min, 94 C; 1 min, 64° C.; 3 min, 72° C. The hTAS2R amplicons were then sub-cloned into a cassette based on pcDNA5-FRT (Invitrogen). The cloning cassette contains the first 45 amino acids of the rat somatostatin type 3 receptor (as is further described by Meyerhof et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 89, 10267-10271 (1992)) as a cell surface-targeting signal at the N-terminus. The C-terminus contained the herpes simplex virus (HSV) glycoprotein D epitope which does not interfere with signaling of heptahelical receptors and can be used for immunocytochemistry using an antibody that binds specifically to the HSV glycoprotein D epitope (see Roosterman et al, J. Neuroendocrinol, 9, 741-751 (1997)). Comparison of the DNA sequences of at least four clones identified mutations generated during PCR and this avoided picking mutated clones. We compared the amino acid sequences using the AlignX program of the Vector NTI™ Suite (InforMax).

Using the above-described method, DNA sequences encoding all 24 bitter receptors identified by applicant were cloned. As indicated above, they were derived by a PCR-based method using genomic DNA as the template. Since all of the 24 genomic sequences lack introns, the DNA clones obtained had the same sequences as corresponding cDNA clones derived by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) of mRNA from cells expressing the relevant polypeptides would have.

EXAMPLE 2 Immunocytochemistry

Batches of HE 93 cells were separately transiently transfected with expression vectors (pCDN5/FRT; Invitrogen) containing each of the 24 above described coding sequences using lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen) and aliquots of the resulting cell populations were separately seeded on polylysine-coated coverslips. At 24 h post transfection they were washed with phosphate buffered saline (PBS), cooled on ice and added 20 microgram/ml biotin-labeled concanavalin A (Sigma) for 1 h, which binds to cell surface glycoproteins. Thereafter, the cells were fixed for 5 min in methanol/acetone (1:1) and then permeabilized for 4 min with 0.25% Triton X-100. In order to reduce nonspecific binding the coverslips were incubated in 2% goat serum. Thereafter, anti-HSV glycoprotein D antiserum (Novagen, 1:10,000) was added to detect the chimeric receptors that, as described above, would have a HSV glycoprotein epitope fused to their C-temini, and Texas Red-Avidin D (Vector, 1:200) has added to stain the cell surface and incubation continued overnight at 4° C. Such C-termini are intracellular and for this reason it is necessary to permeabilize the cells to permit entry of the HSV glycoprotein D epitope-specific antibody molecules into them. After washing (5× in PBS, RT) Alexa488-conjugated goat anti-mouse antiserum (Molecular Probes, 1:1000) was added and incubation continued at room temperature for 1 h. Finally, the cells were embedded in Fluorescent Mounting Medium (Dako) and analyzed using a Leica TCS SP2 Laser Scan Inverted microscope. The preparations were scanned sequentially with an argon/krypton laser (488 nm) to excite the Alexa488 dye and with a green-helium-neon laser (543 nm) to excite the Texas Red dye. The spectral detector recorded light emission at 510-560 nm and 580-660 nm, respectively. Images of 1024×1024 pixels were processed with Corel PHOTO-PAINT 10.0 (Corel Corporation) and printed on a Tektronix color laser printer. The immunocytochemical data permitted calculation of the proportion of cells expressing recombinant receptors (green fluorescent cells divided by total cell number in a microscopic field) and the proportion of cells that display expression of TAS2Rs at the plasma membrane level (number of cells with colocalization of green and red fluorescence divided by the number of green fluorecent cells). Of the 24 transfectant lines tested, all were found to express the encoded polypeptides. The proportion of receptor-expressing cells in the various transfectant lines ranged from about 10% to about 35%.

EXAMPLE 3 Heterologous Expression of hTAS2R Receptors

A fluorescence imaging plate reader (FLIPR, Molecular Devices) was used to functionally screen cell populations transiently transfected with expression vectors encoding the above-described 24 bitter receptors and to establish concentration-response curves for hTAS2R16 and hTASR10. The single-cell calcium imaging technique was also employed to demonstrate receptor selectivity and crossdesensitization. For the FLIPR experiments the HEK293/15 cells were grown to 50% confluence. The cells were then seeded at a density of 3×10³ cells per well into 96-well black-wall, clear-bottom microtiter plates (Greiner). After 48 h the cells in each well were transfected using Lipofectamine 2000 and 24-30 h later were loaded with FIuo4AM (Molecular Probes). Thereafter they were stimulated with bitter compounds (SigmaAldrich, further purified by reversed-phase HPLC to >99% purity). Calcium signals were recorded simultaneously from each well at 1 Hz at 510 nm after excitation at 488 nm and the recordings were corrected for cell density. The responses of five wells containing cells expressing the same receptor and that received the same stimulus (i.e., the same compound at the same concentration) were averaged. Calcium traces were subtracted that were determined in triplicate of mock-transfected cells stimulated with the same concentration of tastant. The calculations rest on at least four independent transfection experiments. Plots of the amplitudes versus concentrations fitted by nonlinear regression to the function ƒ(x)=100/(1+(EC₅₀/x)_(n)H), with x=agonist concentration and nH=Hill coefficient permitted calculation of EC₅₀ values and threshold values of activation.

EC₅₀ and threshold values obtained with hTAS2R16-expressing transfectants are shown in Table 1 below and the results are described in Example 4.

In separate experiments, hTAS2R10-expressing transfectants were found to have a threshold of activation of approximately 0.1 μM and a EC₅₀ of 5-20 μM using strychnine as the test compound. Similar results were obtained with brucine.

Single-cell Ca²⁺ imaging was performed with the hTAS2R16-transfected HEK293/15 cells as described in Cell 95, 917-926 (1998), but with the following modifications: The Till Photonics imaging system (Munich, Germany) was used in which a monochromator is connected by a quartz fiber lightguide and an epifluorescence condenser to an inverted Olympus IX50 microscope equipped with a UApo/340 40×1.35 oil-immersion lens. 30 h post-transfection, FURA-2AM-loaded cells were sequentially illuminated in 5 s intervals for 3-10 ms, first at 340 nm, then at 380 nm, online ratioed light emissions at 510 nm (340/380) and monitored the images via an intensified, cooled CCD camera. The 5 s interval camera pictures of all cells in the microscope field of vision permanently were stored and analyzed offline. 10-15% of all cells in the camera field responded to agonists in transient transfection experiments. The proportion of responders was about half of that found by immunocytochemistry, probably reflecting a sub-optimal signal transduction. Responses were not observed in mocktransfected cells. Isoproterenol (10 microMolar) was used at the end of all experiments to stimulate endogenous betaadrenergic receptors, proving a functional G_(alpha 15) dependent signal transduction cascade.

For RT-PCR and in-situ hybridization work, human RNA (Clontech) was purchased or it was isolated firm surgical tongue specimens with peqGOLD RNAPure (Peqlab) and the preparations digested with DNase I (Invitrogen). Following cDNA synthesis (Smart cDNA synthesis Kit, Clontech) hTAS2R16 cDNA was PCR-amplified (39 cycles, 1 min 94° C., 1 min 64° C., 1 min 72° C.) using specific forward and reverse primers with overhangs containing EcoRI or NotI sites SEQ ID Nos 51 and 52 and the amplicons analyzed on agarose gels. Subcloning and sequencing demonstrated the identity of the amplified bands. Approximately 15 micrometer cryo-sections of human tongue specimens containing vallate papilla at 65° C. were processed and hybridized with a hTAS2R16 riboprobe spanning the complete coding region and generated from hTAS2R16 cDNA. The in-situ hybridization method used was essentially the same as that described in Nature, 413, 631-635 (2001) except that the riboprobe was conjugated with biotin and an alkaline phosphatase-avidin conjugate was used for detection. This experiment indicated that TAS2R16 mRNA is expressed in vallate papilla which are known to perceive bitter taste.

EXAMPLE 4 Human Taste Experiments

15 experienced panelists in a sensory panel room at 22-25° C. determined bitter thresholds on three different sessions using a triangle test with tap water as solvent, according to methodology set out in J. Agric. Food Chem., 49, 231-238 (2001), or Mailgaard M et al, “Sensory Evaluation Techniques” (CRC Press LLC, New York 1999). For dose-response relations, bitter tastant concentration series were presented to 10 trained panelists in random order. The panelists ranked the samples in increasing order of intensity and, for each concentration, evaluated bitterness intensity on a scale from 0 to 5 (ref. 24). The dose-response curves of three different sessions were averaged. The intensity values between individuals and separate sessions differed by not more than 0.5 units.

To investigate adaptation, the 8 panelists first maintained aqueous solutions (5 ml) of phenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (8 mM), phenyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside (180 mM), salicin (8 mM), or helicin (8 mM) for 15 s in their oral cavities and evaluated the bitter intensity as described above. After 30 min, they kept a denatonium benzoate solution (5 ml, 0.0003 mM) for 15 s in their mouth and evaluated its bitterness. The panelists spat off the denatonium benzoate solution, took up the phenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside or the phenyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside solutions orally for 120 s or 180 s and judged their bitterness intensity after 15, 30, 60, 120 and 180s. Thereafter, the panelists spat off these solutions and then sequentially took up salicin, helicin (5 ml, 8 mM) and denatonium benzoate (5 ml, 0.0003 mM) and evaluated bitterness intensities of these solutions after 15 s. After an additional 30 min, the first experiment was repeated. The data of three different sessions for each panelist were averaged. Intensity values between individuals and separate sessions differed by not more than ±0.5 units.

Results of in vitro assays (FLIPR) and human taste experiments are shown in Table 1 below.

TABLE II Threshold Value (mM) EC₅₀ (mM) Compound FLIPR Human FLIPR Human 1 0.07 +/− 0.02 0.1 +/− 0.05 1.1 +/− 0.1  0.7 +/− 0.2 2 0.07 +/− 0.02 0.2 +/− 0.1 1.4 +/− 0.2  1.1 +/− 0.3 3  0.3 +/− 0.1 0.4 +/− 0.1 2.3 +/− 0.4  2.2 +/− 0.7 4  0.5 +/− 0.2 0.9 +/− 0.3 5.8 +/− 0.9  5.4 +/− 1.8 5  1.5 +/− 0.5 n.d. n.d. n.d. 6  0.4 +/− 0.1 0.2 +/− 0.1 1.0 +/− 0.1  1.4 +/− 0.4 7   15 +/− 6  32 +/− 11 n.d. 320 +/− 108 8  2.3 +/− 0.9 n.d.  20 +/− 3.4 n.d. 9   4 +/− 2   4 +/− 1 n.d. n.d. 10 n.r.  40 +/− 13 n.r. n.d. 11 n.r.   9 +/− 3 n.r.   50 +/− 17 1 = phenyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside; 2 = salicin; 3 = helicin; 4 = arbutin; 5 = 2-nitro-phenyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside; 6 = naphthyl-beta-D-pyranoside; 7 = methyl-beta-D-lucopyranoside; 8 = amygdalin; 9 = esculin; 10 = phenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside; 11 = phenyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside. n.d. = not data due to solubility problems or toxicity or artifacts in vitro. n.r. = No response up to 100 mM.

The FLIPR results provide the threshold concentration of the compounds (nM) at which point the receptor detects the compounds. The EC₅₀ results express the concentration of the compound wherein the receptor signal is at 50%, and is a representation of the affinity of a receptor for a compound.

The results show that the in vitro FLIPR measurements for salicin closely resemble the human taste study results. This bitter-tasting compound has known anti-pyretic and analgesic action, and the results suggest that in vitro assays using hTAS2R16 may represent a useful tool to find compounds that suppress or eliminate the bitter response to this compound. Also, for all the other tested beta-glucopyranosides, the close correspondence of Threshold Concentration and EC₅₀ results suggest that hTAS2R16 is a cognate human receptor for these class of bitter compounds. In contrast, the related structures (see compounds 10 and 11) show 90- to 400-fold higher Threshold Concentrations, which indicates that this receptor is rather selective, and that these bitter compounds activate different receptors.

Adaptation frequently occurs in sensory systems and means that stimuli elicit reduced responses upon prolonged or repeated stimulus presentations. Repeated stimulation of hTAS2R16-expressing cells with phenyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside resulted in largely diminished responses to salicin as well. This cross-desensitization occurred among the other tested beta-pyranosides and was fully reversible. It resembles homologous desensitization of agonist-occupied heptahelical receptors mediated by GRKs, i.e. specific kinases, and arresting. We also observed adaptation in the human test panel that initially scored phenyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside, salicin and helicin as equally intensely bitter. The bitterness of phenyl-beta-D glucopyranoside declined during prolonged stimulation and the test panel perceived salicin and helicin also as less bitter, but not the unrelated bitter substance denatonium benzoate, which cannot activate TAS2R16. Adaptation was fully reversible. On the opposite, the phenyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside failed to cross-adapt with all tested beta-D-glucopyranosides, although its own bitter response desensitized strongly. This indicates that beta-glucopyranosides signal through a common mechanism most likely involving hTAS2R16 as a bitter taste receptor while the alpha-isomer activates a separate receptor. A recent human psychophysical study also revealed cross-adaptation amongst two bitter amino acids but not between the two bitter amino acids and urea, suggesting the existence of distinct receptors for the bitter amino acids and urea. Although most, if not all, bitter receptors are present in the same subset of taste receptor cells, adaptation to specific bitter stimuli can be explained if bitter receptors were subject to homologous desensitization.

EXAMPLE 5 Heterologous Expression of hTAS2R

Transient transfection of TAS2Rs into HEK-293T-Gα16gustducin44 cells. We cloned the DNAs of all human putative bitter responsive receptors into pcDNA5/FRT (Invitrogen) by PCR-methods and transiently transfected the plasmids with lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen) into HEK-293T-Gα16gustducin44 cells grown to 50% confluence. These cells stably express a chimeric G protein constructed from human Gα16 and rat gustducin. Finally, we seeded the transfected cells at a density of 3×10³ cells per well into 96-well black-wall, clear-bottom microtiter plates (Greiner).

Co-transfection of TAS2Rs with gustducin and phospholipase-Cβ2 into HEK-293 cells. Alternatively, we transfected simultaneously plasmid DNAs encoding one of the TAS2Rs, phospholipase-Cβ2 and α-gustducin into HEK-293 cells using the lipofectamine method. Additional cotransfection of G-protein β and γ-subunits may improve the bitter tastant-induced responses. Thereafter, the transfected cells were seeded at a density of 3×10³ cells per well into 96-well black-wall, clear-bottom microtiter plates (Greiner).

Fluorometric Imaging Plate Reader (FLIPR) assay 24-30 h later, the cells were loaded with 4 μM FLUO-4/AM (Molecular Probes) and 0.04% Pluronic F-127 (Molecular Probes) in Hepes-buffered saline (HBS), 140 mM NaCl, 5 mM KCl, 2.5 mM CaCl₂, 10 mM Hepes, 10 mM glucose and 2.5 mM probenicide, pH 7.4, for 1 hour at 37° C. Thereafter, cells were gently washed in HBS by an automated plate washer (Denley Cellwash, Labsystenms) and transferred to the FLIPR (Molecular Devices). The FLIPR integrates an argon laser excitation source, a 96-well pipettor, and a detection system utilizing a Charged Coupled Device imaging camera. Fluorescence emissions from the 96 wells were monitored at an emission wavelength of 510 nm, after excitation with 488 nm (F488). Fluorescence data were collected 1 min before and 10 min after stimulation. Data were collected every 6 s before and every 1 s after agonist stimulation. 50 μl of 3× concentrated agonists were delivered within 2 by the integrated 96-well pipettor to the wells containing 100 μl HBS. Agonist responses were quantified using the amplitudes of the fluorescence peaks. We averaged the responses of five wells containing cells expressing the same receptor and that received the same stimulus. Calcium traces were determined in triplicate of mock-transfected cells stimulated with the same concentration of tastant. EC₅₀ values and plots of the amplitudes versus concentrations were derived from fitting the data by nonlinear regression to the function ƒ(x)=100/[1+(EC₅₀/x)^(nH)H], where x is the agonist concentration and nH is the Hill coefficient. The results for hTAS2R10 (Table II), hTAS2R14 (Table III), hTAS2R16 (Table IV), hTAS2R38 (Table V), hTAS2R43 (Table VI), hTAS2R44 (Table VII), hTAS2R45 (Table VIII), hTAS2R46 (Table IX) and hTAS2R (Table X) are shown below.

TABLE III Identified agonists of hTAS2R10 Approx. thresh- Substance Structure old [mM] EC₅₀ [mM] Strychnine*

0.003 0.04 Brucine

0.01 0.06 Denatonium benzoate

0.003 0.07 Absinthine

0.01

TABLE IV Identified agonists of hTAS2R14 Substance Structure Reacts at L-Tyrosine

1 mM

TABLE V Identified agonists of hTAS2R16 Substance Structure Threshold [mM] EC₅₀ [mM] Naphtyl-β-D-Glucoside

0.4 ± 0.1 1.0 ± 0.1 Phenyl-β-D-Glucoside

0.07 ± 0.02 1.1 ± 0.1 Salicin

0.07 ± 0.02 1.4 ± 0.2 Helicin

0.3 ± 0.1 2.3 ± 0.4 Arbutin

0.5 ± 0.2 5.8 ± 0.9 2-Nitrophenyl-β-D-Glucoside

0.3 − 1   Not determined 4-Nitrophenyl-β-D-Glucoside

1 − 3 Not determined Methyl-β-D-Glucoside*

15 ± 6  32 ± 11 Esculin

4 ± 2 Not determined 4-Nitrophenyl-β-D-Thioglucoside

1 − 5 Not determined 4-Nitrophenyl-β-D-Mannoside

1 − 3 Not determined Amygdalin

2.3 ± 0.9 20 ± 3.4

TABLE VI Identified agonists of hTAS2R38 Approx. Threshold EC₅₀ Substance Structure [μM] [μM] Acetylthiourea

2  15 N,N-Dimethyl-thioformamide

10  55 N,N′-Diphenylthiourea

0.3  2.3 N-Ethylthiourea

30 260 2-Imidazolidinethione(═N,N′-Ethylenethiourea)

10 not determined 4(6)-Methyl-2-thiouracil

20 180 N-Methylthiourea

100 estimated 600-800 Phenylthiocarbamid (PTC)

0.3  2 6-Phenyl-2-thiouracil

0.15  0.5 6-Propyl-2-thiouracil(PROP)

0.3  2 Tetramethylthiourea

10-30 100 Thioacetamide

100 not determined Thioacetanilide

3  18 2-Thiobarbituric acid

reacts at 10 mM 2-Thiouracil

300 estimated 2000

TABLE VII Identified agonists of hTAS2R43 Approx. Thresh- Substance Structure old [mM] EC₅₀ [mM] Saccharin

0.2 1.1 Acesulfame K

No response up to 10 mM

TABLE VIII Identified agonists of hTAS2R44 Approx. Threshold Substance Structure [mM] EC₅₀ [mM] Saccharin

0.2 estimated 2-5 Acesulfame K

0.5 3

TABLE IX Identified agonists of hTAS2R45 Approx. Thresh- Substance Structure old [mM] EC₅₀ [mM] Absinthine

0.003 Not determined

TABLE X Identified agonists of hTAS2R46 Approx. Thresh- Substance Structure old [mM] EC₅₀ [mM] Absinthine

0.001 Not determined

TABLE XI Identified agonists of hTAS2R48 Approx. Thresh- Substance Structure old [mM] EC₅₀ [mM] Absinthine

0.03 Not determined 

1. A polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of: (a) polynucleotides encoding at least the mature form of the polypeptide having the deduced amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 12; (b) polynucleotides having the coding sequence, as shown in SEQ ID NO: 11 encoding at least the mature form of the polypeptide; (c) polynucleotides encoding a fragment or derivative of a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide of any one of (a) to (b), wherein in said derivative one or more amino acid residues are conservatively substituted compared to said polypeptide, and said fragment or derivative has bitter substance binding activity; (d) polynucleotides which are at least 50% identical to a polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (c) and which code for a polypeptide having bitter substance binding activity; and (e) polynucleotides the complementary strand of which hybridizes under stringent conditions to a polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (d) and which code for a polypeptide having bitter substance binding activity; or the complementary strand of such a polynucleotide.
 2. The polynucleotide of claim 1 which is DNA, genomic DNA or RNA.
 3. A vector containing the polynucleotide of claim
 1. 4. The vector of claim 3 in which the polynucleotide is operatively linked to one or more expression control sequences allowing expression in prokaryotic and/or eukaryotic host cells.
 5. A host cell genetically engineered to comprise a polynucleotide of claim
 1. 6. A transgenic non-human animal comprising a polynucleotide of claim
 1. 7. A process for producing a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide of claim 1, comprising: culturing a host cell genetically engineered to comprises a polynucleotide of claim 1 and recovering the polypeptide encoded by said polynucleotide.
 8. A process for producing cells capable of expressing at least one bitter taste receptor polypeptide comprising genetically engineering cells in vitro with a vector containing a polynucleotide of claim 1, wherein said bitter taste receptor polypeptide(s) is(are) encoded by a polynucleotide of claim
 1. 9. A polypeptide having the amino acid sequence encoded by a polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of: (a) polynucleotides encoding at least the mature form of the polypeptide having the deduced amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 12; (b) polynucleotides having the coding sequence, as shown in SEQ ID NO: 11 encoding at least the mature form of the polypeptide; (c) polynucleotides encoding a fragment or derivative of a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide of any one of (a) to (b), wherein in said derivative one or more amino acid residues are conservatively substituted compared to said polypeptide, and said fragment or derivative has bitter substance binding activity; (d) polynucleotides which are at least 50% identical to a polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (c) and which code for a polypeptide having bitter substance binding activity; and (e) polynucleotides the complementary strand of which hybridizes under stringent conditions to a polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (d) and which code for a polypeptide having bitter substance binding activity; or the complementary strand of such a polynucleotide; wherein said polypeptide is obtainable by culturing a host cell genetically engineered to comprise a polynucleotide as defined in any of (a) to (e), and recovering the polypeptide encoded by said polynucleotide.
 10. An antibody that specifically binds to the polypeptide of claim
 9. 11. A nucleic acid molecule which specifically hybridizes to a polynucleotide of claim
 1. 12. An antagonist/inhibitor against the polypeptide of claim 9 which is an antibody, the extracellular domain of the polypeptide of claim 9 or a fragment thereof, or an inhibiting RNA.
 13. The antagonist/inhibitor of claim 12, wherein said inhibiting RNA is an antisense construct, RNAi, siRNA or a ribozyme.
 14. A process for isolating a compound that binds to a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of: (a) polynucleotides encoding at least the mature form of the polypeptide having the deduced amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 12; (b) polynucleotides having the coding sequence, as shown in SEQ ID NO: 11 encoding at least the mature form of the polypeptide; (c) polynucleotides encoding a fragment or derivative of a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide of any one of (a) to (b), wherein in said derivative one or more amino acid residues are conservatively substituted compared to said polypeptide, and said fragment or derivative has bitter substance binding activity; (d) polynucleotides which are at least 50% identical to a polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (c) and which code for a polypeptide having bitter substance binding activity; and (e) polynucleotides the complementary strand of which hybridizes under stringent conditions to a polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (d) and which code for a polypeptide having bitter substance binding activity; comprising: (1) contacting said polypeptide or a host cell genetically engineered with said polynucleotide or with a vector containing said polynucleotide with a compound; (2) detecting the presence of the compound which binds to said polypeptide; and (3) determining whether the compound binds said polypeptide.
 15. A process for isolating an antagonist of the bitter taste receptor activity of the polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of: (a) polynucleotides encoding at least the mature form of the polypeptide having the deduced amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 12; (b) polynucleotides having the coding sequence, as shown in SEQ ID NO: 11 encoding at least the mature form of the polypeptide; (c) polynucleotides encoding a fragment or derivative of a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide of any one of (a) to (b), wherein in said derivative one or more amino acid residues are conservatively substituted compared to said polypeptide, and said fragment or derivative has bitter taste receptor activity; (d) polynucleotides which are at least 50% identical to a polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (c) and which code for a polypeptide having bitter taste receptor activity; and (e) polynucleotides the complementary strand of which hybridizes under stringent conditions to a polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (d) and which code for a polypeptide having bitter taste receptor activity; comprising: (1) contacting said polypeptide or a host cell genetically engineered with said polynucleotide or with a vector containing said polynucleotide with a potential antagonist; and (2) determining whether the potential antagonist antagonizes the bitter taste receptor activity of said polypeptide.
 16. The process of claim 15 further comprising the contacting of the polypeptide with an agonist of the respective bitter taste receptor activity.
 17. The process of claim 16 in which said contacting with an agonist is carried out prior to, concomitantly with, or after step (1).
 18. The process of claim 16 in which said agonist is selected from the group consisting of saccharin and acesulfame K and functional derivatives thereof.
 19. A process for the production of a food or any precursor material or additive employed in the production of foodstuffs comprising the steps of the process of claim 14 and the sub-sequent step of admixing the identified compound or antagonist with foodstuffs or any precursor material or additive employed in the production of foodstuffs.
 20. A process for the production of a nutraceutical or pharmaceutical composition comprising the steps of the process of claim 14 and the subsequent step of formulating the compound or antagonist with an active agent in a pharmaceutically acceptable form.
 21. A food stuff or any precursor material or additive employed in the production of foodstuffs comprising an antagonist/inhibitor of claim
 12. 22. A nutraceutical or pharmaceutical composition comprising an antagonist/inhibitor of claim 12 and an active agent and optionally a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
 23. A method for treating an abnormally increased or decreased sensitivity towards a bitter substance wherein said method comprises administering, to a subject in need of such treatment, one or more agents selected from the group consisting of: 1) A polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of: (a) polynucleotides encoding at least the mature form of the polypeptide having the deduced amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 12; (b) polynucleotides having the coding sequence, as shown in SEQ ID NO: 11 encoding at least the mature form of the polypeptide; (c) polynucleotides encoding a fragment or derivative of a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide of any one of (a) to (b), wherein in said derivative one or more amino acid residues are conservatively substituted compared to said polypeptide, and said fragment or derivative has bitter substance binding activity; (d) polynucleotides which are at least 50% identical to a polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (c) and which code for a polypeptide having bitter substance binding activity; and (e) polynucleotides the complementary strand of which hybridizes under stringent conditions to a polynucleotide as defined in any one of (a) to (d) and which code for a polypeptide having bitter substance binding activity; or the complementary strand of such a polynucleotide; 2) a vector comprising a polynucleotide of part 1) above; 3) an antibody that specifically binds to a polypeptide that is encoded by a polynucleotide of part 1) above and which is obtainable by culturing a host cell genetically engineered to comprise a polynucleotide of part 1) above, and recovering the polypeptide encoded by said polynucleotide; and 4) an antagonist/inhibitor against the polypeptide of part 3) above, which is an antibody, the extracellular domain of the polypeptide of part 3) above, or a fragment thereof, or an inhibiting RNA.
 24. A process for the production of a food or any precursor material or additive employed in the production of foodstuffs comprising the steps of the process of claim 15 and the sub-sequent step of admixing the identified compound or antagonist with foodstuffs or any precursor material or additive employed in the production of foodstuffs.
 25. A process for the production of a nutraceutical or pharmaceutical composition comprising the steps of the process of claim 15 and the subsequent step of formulating the compound or antagonist with an active agent in a pharmaceutically acceptable form. 